The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 5 (15 page)

“Thank you very much, Ms. Suzuki. I am so glad you decided to come with us!”

“Hyah!!! Um, uh, I, uh, I, um, you, um, you’re welcome.”

This sudden outburst from Ashiya made Rika’s face burn red as she stared at her entombed hand.

“I will do whatever I can to extract enough money from our 41,239 yen to purchase a cell phone afterward. We are off!”

“O-o-okay!”

Ashiya flashed another warm smile at the squawking Rika and flew back toward Suzuno.

“Suzuno Kamazuki! We must browse the selection together!”

“Wh-where on earth did
that
come from?! What happened?! S-stop pulling me! Let me go, you ogreish brute!”

“…Look at ’em go.”

Maou’s gaze shifted between Ashiya, manhandling Suzuno all the way to the TV section, and Rika, frozen and red as a stop sign.

“What’d you say to Ashiya?”

“……”

“Hellooooo?”

He waved a hand in front of Rika’s face. No response.

Maou thought for a moment. This happened to him before, just recently.

“…Oof!”

He clapped his hands near one of her ears.

“Aigh!!”

Unlike the previous victim, Rika’s response as she came to was far from charming.

“Ughh… Did I…?”

“Hey, uh, can I ask you a question?”

“Agh! Wh-what, Maou? Since when were
you
standing there?!”

“…Since a few seconds ago, I guess. Can I ask a question?”

“Wh-wha-what?!”

“I was just wondering…”

“Y-yeah?”

Maou turned around, watching Ashiya alongside a pouting Suzuno as he peppered a nearby salesperson with questions, before returning his eyes to Rika.

“You got a thing for him, or…?”

“Prggffh!”

At that instant, with a sound and a blast of air that seemed like it came from a jet-powered humidifier, Rika collapsed into a puddle of goo on the ground.

“Wh-whoa, you okay? I kinda wasn’t expecting
that
reaction!”

Flustered, Maou helped Rika back up and dragged her to a bench situated near the stairwell.

“Devil King.”

“Hmm?”

“Why do I have to sit here with you on this bench and drink tea with you?”

“Who cares? It’s fine.”

“I am
quite
unhappy.”

“Ooh, that hurts.”

Maou and Suzuno were seated on a bench by the Socket City stairwell.

They were drinking from plastic bottles of barley tea they had filled and frozen in their respective refrigerators before leaving. In front of each of them sat a box containing a brand-new TV.

Hearing that Suzuno and Ashiya each wanted to purchase a set made the salesman considerably more amenable than previously.

Ashiya, without bothering to consult with Maou, bought the cheapest set in the store, a 32,800-yen model on inventory closeout. Suzuno’s, while the same size as Ashiya’s, included a built-in Blu-ray player/recorder.

The salesman, in addition to rounding down everything below the thousands digit, even gave Ashiya the points that otherwise wouldn’t have been included with a closeout purchase.

Thanks to his mistakenly assuming the pair to be family or lovers, the salesman put his nose to the grindstone to placate the clearly perturbed-looking Suzuno. That paid off in the end.

And since he only spent around 30,000 of their 41,239 yen (plus extra for the warranty), now Ashiya was attempting to purchase a cell phone with the difference.

That was the whole reason Rika joined him today in the first place, and thanks to her, the Devil’s Castle joined the TV age for much less than otherwise.

If she hadn’t been around, they never would’ve been clued in on the “go shopping together” trick. Suzuno never would have conceived it.

“Listen, though…what do you think of those two?”

“Those two? Alciel and Rika, you mean?”

Maou motioned toward the two in question as they played around with cell phones in a seemingly random order.

Ashiya’s attention was focused entirely on the merchandise at hand, but Rika, her mind elsewhere, kept tossing furtive glances at Maou’s direction, then averting their eyes whenever he returned the favor.

Was the odd redness to her face due to the outside air filtering its way into the phone department a little, or…?

“Rika is aloft in her own world,” Suzuno replied.

“Ah?”

“When the two of them stand together, Alciel’s clothing is far too austere. Everyone likes a tall, dark stranger, as they say, but he really must mind his wardrobe if he wishes to be trusted in society, must he not?”

“Trusted in society? That bad, huh?”

“Of course. He is making Rika look overdressed, right next to him like that.”

“Okay, but why did Rika Suzuki bother dressing up at all? ’Cause to me, that just seems like her normal look.”

“Why…? It was Alciel who suggested this shopping trip, no? I cannot say how they began to mingle with each other, but Rika has no idea Alciel is a demon. Any woman accepting an invitation from a man would do at least something for such an expedition…”

Before she could finish, Suzuno fell silent, realizing something was off with her assessment.

It was Maou who spoke next. “I don’t know if this her way of ‘haggling’ her life, but you think she’d go firing away guns a-blazin’ like that?”

“…Hold it, Devil King. I do
not
like this line of thought.”

“You know how laid-back she is with people. When we first met, she had no problem verbally nudging me all the time. Even though I was just a friend of a friend, you know? Why would a girl like that accept Ashiya’s invite and dress up for it?”

“Rika… She couldn’t be…”

Suzuno fell into a state of bewilderment, the plastic bottle falling out of her hand.

It didn’t make a sound, mostly frozen and wrapped in a towel to absorb the condensation. Very little of the tea spilled out at all.

“D-Devil King, is
that
what you mean to say? That…that Rika bears…excessive goodwill toward Alciel?”

“I asked her that earlier. She growled at me like a pit bull and—
gehh
!”

In the middle of Maou’s sentence, Suzuno punched him squarely on the jaw.

“Jeez, ow! What was
that
for?!”

“What was that for? I could ask you the very same! Have you no common sense? No decency?!”

“Huhh?”

“Small wonder Rika has been stealing looks at us like a frightened puppy! What did you
say
to her?!”

“This is totally gonna bruise, isn’t it? …I didn’t say anything! I was just, like, ‘Hey, you got a thing for ’im, or’—
gnngh
!”

The force of the second punch was enough to make Maou’s own bottle launch out of his hand.

“This!
This
is why you shall forever be Devil King!!”

“S-Suzuno, you’re killing me… P-people are watching us!”

“…!”

Suzuno was all but lifting Maou off the floor by the collar before she finally realized what she was doing.

“I…I just thought we should get everyone on the same page before anything else…”

“And
then
what?!”

Suzuno took a deep breath to collect herself, then plopped back down on the bench, sighing ruefully.

“Then…I dunno, I didn’t have any huge plans or anything!”

The flummoxed response made her roll her eyes at him.

She spoke, softly but sharply, so that only Maou could hear.

“This is different from Chiho. Are you trying to force us into rewriting Rika’s memory?”

“Hehh?”

Maou yelped helplessly, unable to grasp what Suzuno meant. Suzuno, expecting this, continued hissing at him.

“Chiho knows about both us
and
you. She knew all of it, and yet still she is attracted to you. She is aware, in her own way, that there is every chance all of you will be annihilated sooner or later. That is
not
the case with Rika.”

“……”

Having someone else say it to him made Maou admit it was a bit awkward. Not wishing to be murdered by her Light of Iron at the moment, however, he remained silent.

“Falling in love with Alciel guarantees nothing but a bleak, unhappy future for her. If you wish her not to become involved, I want neither of you to see her from this day forward.”

“Hey, how do you know it’s gonna be
that
bleak for her…? And why are you so sure Chi’s gonna have to go to my funeral sometime soon? Who says that’s gonna happen?”

“That’s…”

Suzuno was about to fire back, but then recalled the conversation she had with Emi the evening they returned from Choshi. That, and Alas Ramus. She chewed on her words for a moment. “Well. From an impartial point of view, I suppose there is at least a paramecium dropping’s chance of your survival.”

“That low, huh?”

“But neither Alciel nor Rika would have even that luxury granted to them! Even if you, Alciel, and Lucifer all decided to live out your mortal lives in Japan, it could never happen.”

“Wh-why not? I mean, not that I necessarily want to do that, but…”

“How long have you been in human form? Who on this planet could guarantee that all of you will see out your golden years if you stay on Earth?”

“I…”

“Even if your strength is that of an average human—even if you require human medical treatment for your injuries—you are a demon all the same, once you gather enough demonic force. And once you do, even if you have a change of heart and elect to side with the humans, unhappiness will be sure to greet whoever decides to become close to you. As long as your body remains young, that is all but inevitable.”

“Huh. Kinda surprised, though—you think we’re gonna pal up with humans that much?”

“Oh,
now
you say that?” Suzuno huffed, the question clearly settled to her. “The truth can never be born from bias. If I were to comprehensively evaluate your personal qualities as I’ve directly interacted with them in this world, ‘palling up’ is a fair enough inference to make—Ah!”

She stopped midway, glaring at him as if he had killed her family.

“But do
not
take that to mean I have a positive impression of
any
of you! That is strictly an objective analysis!”

“A-all right, all right. Stop standing so close to me. I got it.” Maou attempted a smile to stave off the Church cleric who just physically assaulted him in a public place.

Suzuno, eyes still dead upon him, looked over at Ashiya and Rika, who were still near the display of phones. “Even if Rika continued with this affair, the day will come when she has to grieve over her lost love or see him off as he returns to another world. Do you think myself or Emilia will allow that?”

“……” Fixing his shirt collar, Maou picked up his bottle and tried to return Suzuno’s glare.

“You know what I am trying to tell you. If possible, I want you and Alciel to cut off ties with Rika today. That would keep the wounds to her psyche at a bare—”

“All right, so why haven’t you erased Chi’s memories yet?”

“—minimum… What?”

“The only difference between her and Rika Suzuki is that one knows the truth about me and one doesn’t. Shouldn’t you just erase Chi’s memories right now? Isn’t she gonna be unhappy, too, otherwise?”

Suzuno’s eyes widened, like a deer on the highway.

“I mean, what kinda line are you drawing between Chi and Rika anyway? If you’re respecting Chi’s wishes as a friend or whatever, then why aren’t Rika’s wishes worth considering?”

“Th-that is not my intention! I simply mean that—”

“That what?”

“……”

The one-two punch from Maou cowed Suzuno into silence.

“Or how ’bout I give you this One Weird Tip that’ll keep Rika from having some huge love tragedy? Church clerics
hate
it!”

Now Maou was in his element. The confidence was written across his face.

“Here it is: We just explain to Rika that we’re demons from another world, in a way that she can believe. If that freaks her out enough that she stays away from us, that’s perfect for you guys, right? And if Rika still wants to hang out around Ashiya, she’ll at least be informed and prepared for whatever happens. She won’t be the only one being all sad that way.”

“Are you insane?! If you do that—”

“If I do that, what?”

“Then…then you will get Rika involved in all of this.”

Suzuno was quickly losing steam.

“Well, wouldn’t it be nice if our enemy cared about that?”

Maou didn’t need to emphasize the
our
to get his point across.

“’Cause Olba didn’t hesitate for a minute to get Chi involved in our little spat. Did you think Ciriatto and all those dudes he brought along cared about all those helpless Japanese people back in town?”

Maou’s voice was quiet, but there was a sharp, supreme confidence to it.

“From the moment Emi and I came down here to Tokyo—the central core of human society in Japan—it didn’t
matter
how much we cared about getting humans involved in this. So what’s it matter, trying to hide our true identities when push comes to shove? Or, what, does Rika strike you as the type of girl who’d let a little something like demonic wars stop her?”

“You… Enough! Enough of your faulty logic! Human relationships aren’t as simple as that!”

“Yeah? Well, how ’bout human-demon relationships? Wouldn’t those be even
less
simple? ’Cause Chi seems like she’s getting along okay with me, isn’t she? Besides, Rika’s been ‘involved’ ever since Emi decided to make friends with her. The only difference is that she’s not in clear and present danger yet.”

“……”

“I dunno how this is gonna turn out, and I’m not saying we should all try to expand our friend base or anything. But I’m already interacting with all kinds of people in my job. And…”

Slowly, Maou stood up, swaying back and forth to stretch out his back.

“I know I don’t need to tell you this, but it’s boring, living alone. You’ll wanna have some friends sooner or later.”

Suzuno, the loser of the debate, averted her eyes and put her hands to her knees, shoulders shivering.

She had no logical argument to retaliate with, but it was clear she was in agony, unable to accept it on an emotional level.

Seeing this out the corner of his eye, Maou let out a deep breath from his nose, the day’s heavy lifting done.

“You gotta stop thinking in black and white so much. Emi never thinks
that
much about whatever she does. It’s worked fine for her so far.”

He put a hand on Suzuno’s head, watching the hairpin quivering on top of it.

“D-don’t touch me!”

The edges of her eyes reddened a bit as she brushed his hand away.

“You and Emilia… Both of you just smash headlong into everything you encounter! What is so wrong about at least
one
of us carefully considering things first?!”

“Nothing. But if your thoughts keep dwelling on bad outcomes or keeping the status quo, that doesn’t accomplish anything. As long as we’re dealing with other people in this world, it’d be a lot more fun to focus on the
good
stuff that comes out of it. Plus, I’m a King. I have a duty to live that way for my followers.”

“King…”

Suzuno tossed the word around in her mind.

“But…”

“Mmm?”

“If you keep such a rosy view of the world, just doing whatever you think is right even when it fails…what then?”

“Simple.”

Suzuno intended the question to bite at Maou, pulling the rug out from under him. But Maou had a ready answer.

“Someone else shows up who thinks he can bring everyone in a better direction. He knocks me out. Then he takes the lead.”

“Hey, um, Ashiya?”

“Yes?”

“Do Maou and Suzuno get along much?”

“Hmm?”

Rika pointed toward a bench next to the stairwell. Maou and Suzuno were there, yelling and scuffling with each other. From a certain angle, one could conclude they were just having a playful shove or two. Either way, Ashiya doubted they were having an exchange of any major note.

“Normally, it should not be that way at all.”

“It shouldn’t…? Huh?”

“But…”

Ashiya’s face was twisted in pain. His words were the polar opposite.

“Lately, that has not been the case.”

“…Oh. Kinda complicated?”

“Yes. Very complicated indeed. I think…”

Ashiya, relaxing his tormented expression a bit, turned his eyes to Rika.

That alone was enough to press the
FAST-FORWARD
button on Rika’s heart.

“The time may come when I will explain why to you, too.”

His eyes, the apex of sincerity, were like arrows stunning Rika into silence.

“…Mmm.”

All she could do was nod.

Ashiya had some kind of dark shadow, one Rika couldn’t begin to fathom. She felt that from the first time they met.

Something about his relationship with Maou indicated they were more than simply boss and subordinate. And even though they acted excessively hostile around Emi, it kind of seemed like they didn’t hate her
that
much.

Plus, how did these people run a company if they were so out of touch with things like how to work a TV set? It was all so strange.

She put it aside at first—they were just passing acquaintances back then—but maybe “the Maou Group,” the company he told Rika about, was actually a feint to hide some kind of bigger past.

Or maybe it was just her imagination. This was only her third encounter with Ashiya. They were only slightly familiar with each other. If someone asked whether they were friends, she couldn’t honestly say they were at that point. She was in no position to pry into his past.

That, and Ashiya was yet again being the perfect picture of politeness.

Each of the men of Rika’s age she’d interacted with up to this point would drop the effort within a day’s time and act like he’d known her for years. If they made it to a third date, the guy usually took that as a cue that it was okay to unrepentantly fart in her presence. But the wall between Ashiya and her showed no signs of even cracking, much less crumbling down.

I’d love to break it down.

I want to know more about Ashiya, beyond the wall.

That sort of natural desire was starting to sprout within Rika.

Maou and Suzuno, with all the hate supposedly between them, seemed perfectly comfortable with each other. No restraint whatsoever.

It wasn’t exactly the ideal relationship, no. But, still, Rika wanted to know more. More about what Ashiya was thinking as he went through his daily routine.

Suddenly, it came to her.

She gave an extra little clench to the bag in her hand, still holding the simmered fish he had gifted her.

“Say, Ashiya?”

I.

“How ’bout we just pick up some spec sheets and think it over for now? It’s not like we gotta buy you a cell phone today, right?”

“That is true enough, yes…”

Have fallen.

“I sure don’t get a commission if you buy a Dokodemo phone, so don’t worry about humoring me there. A little time to talk it over with Maou wouldn’t hurt, either, I don’t think. But if anything jumps out at you after that…”

In love with this weirdo.

“…lemme know and I’ll help you shop some more, okay?”

Ninety percent of that invite was rational. The rest was ulterior:

Ashiya, on cloud nine after the deal he earned on the TV, was having trouble making rational buying decisions at this point.

Rika hadn’t checked on what kind of phone plan Maou used. If they could have Ashiya join on his contract, or switch over to some kind of friends-and-family deal, he could get the functions he wanted for a cheaper price. She truly felt she didn’t have the info she needed. That much was true.

The other 10 percent was telling her that, as long as she framed it like this, she could easily get another chance to see Ashiya. Thus, the ulterior motive.

She had trouble expressing why explaining her outing with Ashiya to Emi over the phone—to anyone, really—made her so tense. But now that she knew where her heart was, it made perfect sense.

“…Would that be all right with you, Rika?”

It was no wonder that establishing a “next time” made her so happy.

“Oh, totally! They call me the Queen of Connectivity around the office, y’know. You wanna find the best cell phone for your needs, you just come to me! I ain’t gonna steer you wrong!”

“I look forward to it.”

She hardly knew him, but seeing him smile made her so, so happy.

Ahhhh, this isn’t like me at all.

“Allow me to collect a few more of these pamphlets for now, then. I will need to check Maou’s work schedule to be sure, but I should be able to contact you again before long.”

“Sure. I’ve got work, of course, so we can talk about it then. So how ’bout we get those two over there to stop bickering and call it a—”

It was as she was speaking that it happened.

“Yeeeaaaggghhhh!!”

A scream rang out from the floor above them. Ashiya and Rika, Maou and Suzuno—they froze.

The rest of the customers looked similarly confused, looking around to figure out where the scream came from.

“Hey, what was that?”

“Let’s go look.”

An employee and his supervisor ran up the stairs.

Maou watched them go past his bench, but, suddenly realizing something, he headed toward Ashiya and stated his thoughts. By the looks of it, Ashiya was thinking along similar lines.

“Could you wait here just a moment, Ms. Suzuki?”

“Huh?”

“Hey, did you notice that, Suzuno?”

Maou looked deadly serious as he spoke. Suzuno reluctantly nodded.

“…You watch Rika for me. Ashiya and I will be right back.”

Not bothering to hear Suzuno’s response, he made a bull rush upstairs, Ashiya following behind.

“Hey! Hey, uh, guys, shouldn’t we leave that to someone else?”

Rika, sensing at least a smidgen of the tension in the air, had no one left to address as Suzuno looked up the stairwell warily.

The second floor was where Ashiya and Suzuno had made their TV purchase.

It couldn’t have been more perfectly normal back then, but in tandem with the scream, the air now seemed infected by a nebulous miasma.

“…You had best wait outside, Rika. I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Um? Uh, okay, but what about them…?”

“They will be fine. They have survived quite a lot, despite all indications.”

“Wh-what do you mean…? Oh! Wait a sec, Suzuno, he forgot his TV!”

After a moment, Rika finally succeeded in having Suzuno give her the pair of TV boxes and help her jog for the exit.

Outside, Shinjuku was the same as usual. The scream didn’t make it beyond Socket City’s walls, the passersby betraying no sign of being disturbed by anything.

Maou and Ashiya, meanwhile, realized something was wrong the moment they made it upstairs.