Vol 7 Short Story 2:
Demon King, taking a stray kitten home
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One day in the height of summer, the clouds were in the mood to cover the skies of Tokyo, alleviating the hot summer heat of Tokyo.
As long as the window is opened a little, the refreshing light wind flowing in would gradually cool down the room.
Even if the windows are not opened, the outside air would still come in through the gaps of the canvas covering the huge hole in the wall, but the inhabitants intentionally ignored this.
In this lonely night.
The ears of Demon General Alsiel----Ashiya Shiro, actuely sensed his master’s return.
The sound of the brakes of the bicycle Dullahan II used by his master, the sound of draping water resistant cloth over that bicycle, and the careful steps up the stairs in order to avoid falling down.
Ashiya straightened his posture, and walked towards the porch in order to receive his master.
After the door opened, the one who appeared there……
“……Demon King-sama.”
is his master who lead the Demon Army to conquer foreign world Ente Isla in order to build a paradise for the demons----the figure of Demon King Satan, Maou Sadao.
No matter how one looked, Maou was only a human youth in his twenties, so the presence of a Demon King could not be felt at all.
However, as long as his demonic magic is restored, he would transform into a terrifying Demon King who would cause all living things to shiver.
Besides that, that Demon King who was wearing an old UNIXLO hoodie T-shirt, was actually carrying an unbelievable ‘thing’ in his arms.
“……Meow----”
‘That thing’ gave a weak cry.
When Maou opened up his hoodie T-shirt, a small silver kitten was shown.
“……”
“……”
Master and subordinate looked at each other in front of the porch for a short while.
Then, the master, for unknown reasons tried to read the subordinate’s expression while speaking gingerly,
“Be, because it was shivering at the junkyard……”
“Please put it back to where it was originally.”
Maou did not even finish before he was immediately cut off by Ashiya.
Maou turned back to see the dark colour of night behind him and protested angrily,
“Are you a demon!”
“I am a demon, so what.”
“Ah, ah, ah, ahchoo!”
The other roommate, Fallen Angel Lucifer a.k.a Urushihara Hanzo, gave a huge sneeze, causing the kitten in Maou’s arms to jolt once in fright.
※
The next morning, the Doctrinal Correction Council Inquisitor of the Ente Isla Church----living next to the Demon Fortress, Villa Rosa Sasazuka room 201, Crestia Bell a.k.a Kamazuki Suzuno, woke up because she heard an abnormal foreign sound.
“……What is going on?”
An animal’s cry was heard nearby, and it might just be the sound of a cat.
In these times, it is rare to find apartments which has a backyard and is surrounded by four walls like Villa Rosa Sasazuka, so stray cats will occasionally pass by.
But ever since Suzuno started living here, she had never seen cats get into fights near the apartment, perhaps cats did not like the weeds in the backyard so Suzuno had never been troubled by stray cat droppings.
“……?”
Suzuno left her futon, changed into a Yukata which can be used for casual clothing, however even when she folded her futon and prepared to make breakfast, the cat’s cry had not stopped.
She tried to poke her head out of the window, but she did not see any signs of a cat within field of vision.
Could it be that out of season stray cats have given birth of kittens in a place which cannot be seen.
At this time----
“Bell? It’s me, my apologies for disturbing you this early.”
Someone knocked on the porch door and Suzuno heard a familiar voice from outside.
“Emilia? Is something wrong?”
Suzuno used her apron to wipe her hands while walking out.
“Sorry, coming here so early. I have something to give you.”
“Something for me?”
Hugging a paper bag, Ente Isla Hero Emilia Justina a.k.a Yusa Emi, was standing there.
“I received additional holy magic drinks from Em, so I want to give some to you.”
“Sorry to trouble you.”
Even if Emi and Suzuno depended on spells to overcome many dangers, the two of them were unable to replenish the energy source of the spells in Japan----holy magic.
Thanks to Emi’s former travel companion Emeralda Etuva, she was occasionally send the drink which can replenish holy magic ‘Holy Vitamin β’, Emi and Suzuno were currently able to carry out their activities safely.
“Are you going to work after this?”
“No……”
Emi looked towards the door of the neighbouring room in a worried manner.
“Today is the day which Alas=Ramus is supposed to go out and play with ‘Papa’.”
“……”
Suzuno became speechless after hearing this, and at the same time, discovered that the key person was not here.
“Then where is Alas=Ramus?”
“……Because she woke up too early from being overexcited, she is sleeping now.”
While speaking, Emi pointed to her own head.
Hero Emilia’s holy sword was currently merged with Alas=Ramus, and the latter was an orb used to form the world which was located in Ente Isla Heaven----one of the fragments of ‘Sephira’, an existence which personified into a child.
For unknown reasons, Alas=Ramus strongly believed that the Hero and Demon King are her own “Mama” and “Papa”.
As Alas=Ramus, who could not stay beyond a certain distance apart after merging with Emi, liked ‘Papa’ a lot, Emi had no choice but to visit the Demon Fortress periodically for the sake of her ‘daughter’.
After all, as long as Alas=Ramus threw a tantrum in their merged status, Emi will feel very troubled because of the cries which could only be heard by her.
Even though the merged state is very convenient, but recently, Emi started to feel that it might be easier on her if she undid the merged state to take care of a young child.
Suzuno could not help but pity Emi who had to deal with the Demon King like a single mother after a mediated divorce.
“Ah choo!”
““?””
At this moment, a clear and loud sneeze caused Suzuno and Emi to flinch in shock.
“……That was Lucifer’s voice just now right?”
Emi frowned because of the sneeze which broke the refreshing morning atmosphere.
“It seems to be very noisy over there, did something happen?”
The neighbour of Villa Rosa Sasazuka room 201, had a big hole in it because of a commotion revolving around Alas=Ramus, even though it was currently covered by a plastic sheet, the voices from within could still transmit out, and it seemed to be especially noisy today.
“Who knows, it’s been like this from morning. Could it be a cold because last night was too chilly?”
Even though this does not resemble a conversation between a Hero and an Inquisitor when talking about the Demon Fortress, the next sound heard really caused the both of them to widen their eyes in surprise.
“Meow!”
“Eh?”
It was the cat cry which Suzuno had heard ever since she got out of bed. During the period of time when the two people were unable to grasp the situation, the commotion within the Demon Fortress became more dramatic.
“Ah! It ran away! Urushihara! Grab it!”
“That’s impossible! H, hey, don’t come over! Ah, ah, ah-choo!”
“Damn, damn it, it’s only a small animal, actually daring to resist! Behave!”
Continuous tremendous noise from the Demon King, Demon General and Fallen angel could be heard from next door.
“Meow, meow, meow!”
“W, what are they so noisy about?”
Even though it was not known why there was a cat in the Demon Fortress, but deducing from the sounds heard, Maou and the others seemed to be flustered greatly by the mysterious cat.
A short time later----
“Hah, hah! Finally caught up! Just give in quietly.”
“Blame, blame in on yourself for resisting…..”
“Anything is fine, think of a way to get rid of that guy! Ah, ah, ah-choo!”
Such dangerous sounding voices were heard from within the house.
“Could, could it be!”
The demons’ tone, caused Emi and Suzuno to exchange looks with one another because they have thought of my possibility.
Right now, the economic status of Maou and the others, is so poor that it was difficult to imagine that they were the Demon Army who have ruled Suzuno’s hometown----the whole of Ente Isla.
Even though these demons were able to obey Japan’s rules, and worked to earn money and feed themselves, the life they had now could not be called comfortable at all.
Could it be that Maou and the others have finally decided to break the taboo.
In other words, they planned to capture wild animals to stave their hunger. An image started to surface in Suzuno’s mind which in some way, really suited the impression of a demon.
From the economic situation of the Demon Fortress, they would definitely not do something as reckless as taking in a pet, and furthermore, until yesterday, Suzuno did not see any signs of such a thing.
An bloody image of Maou in his demon form eating the cat headfirst flashed across Emi and Suzuno’s mind, and in the next instant, the two of them started to act.
“Demon King!”
Suzuno stood in front of the neighbouring room 201 and shouted and pulled off her hairclip to cast a spell----Holy Metal Hammer.
Immediately following that, Suzuno’s glass hairclip instantly changed into a giant hammer strong enough to smash the supporting pillars of Villa Rosa Sasazuka into smithereens.
“Suzu, Suzuno?”
From Maou’s voice, he seemed to have heard Suzuno’s shout.
“Demon King, open his door quickly! Your actions are unforgivable! Actually capturing a stray cat for food, can you still be called a Demon King like this?”
“W, what! You’re speaking too loud……”
“Open the door quickly! Let the cat go!”
Suzuno did not listen to Maou’s explanation at all, and turned the doorknob directly, but obviously, it was locked.
“Bell! I’m going to enter your room!”
In contrast, Emi entered Suzuno’s room, and went outside through the window.
It looks like she wants to break into the Demon Fortress from outside.
From how society is now, if anyone who passed by called the police because they saw this, she would be unable to explain herself.
“Tenchu!”
Emi gave a dangerous shout and beautifully jumped into the Demon Fortress from the outside window.
“Wah? Eh, Emi? Where did you come from?”
The one standing in front of Emi, was Maou Sadao carrying a kitten.
“Cut with the nonsense! Actually catching a stray kitten to eat, can you still be considered the Demon King? It’s disgraceful!”
Just as Emi raised the sword of justice and breathed in once to stop the barbaric actions of Maou and the others, she finally discovered it.
“I know all of you have a serious misunderstanding! But this guy finally settled down! Please be quieter!”
Emi originally thought that the Demons were preparing to chop the kitten into pieces.
However what she saw was Maou trying to open the kitten’s mouth with a dropper in his hand, Ashiya busily cleaning up the white powder giving off a fragrant smell split on the floor, and Urushihara curled up in the corner of the room with a red nose and tears streaming down his face.
“……What is……going on……”
Emi, who did not understand the situation, was still speaking when----
“You still don’t know after seeing this?”
Ashiya, using a wet cloth to wipe the white powder, shouted angrily.
“Uh, erhm……”
Emi froze on the spot with the holy sword raised.
“It looks like when planning to feed the kitten milk, the kitten which resisted knocked over the milk powder and ran around, so all of you grabbed it and planned to force it to drink……something like that.”
After analysing the scene in front of her in detail, Emi believed that her deduction was correct.
“Leave it you know already! We don’t have the time to bother about you!”
“Ashiya, don’t be so loud! What if you scare it again……oh, it’s finally willing to drink.”
The silver kitten in Maou’s arms, finally took the dropper in its mouth like it had given up.
“That’s right, if you drank obediently from the beginning, there’s no need to be afraid! Seriously……”
Even though his words were spiteful, Maou still carefully gripped the dropper, preventing the milk from dripping down the corners of the kitten’s mouth.
“Alright, since you’re done drinking, then go back!”
After saying this, Maou put the cat back into the large cardboard box in the corner of the room.
“W, where did the kitten come from? You guys really never planned to eat it?”
“You……what do you see us as.”
“Demons right.”
“Yeah demons.”
“Ah choo!”
One of the other demons, let out another shocking huge sneeze.
“Emilia! Emilia, are you alright! What happened! Hey!”
“…………”
Suzuno banged on the door from the porch outside, if they ignore her, she might just break the door down to enter.
“……Seriously, like this early in the morning.”
Just as Maou prepared to open the door while mumbling----
“De, Demon King-sama, over there isn’t…………!”
Ashiya’s warning was of no use, Maou had already stepped on the milk powder which could not be wiped away in time.
In order to convince Suzuno, who was looking at him suspiciously, Maou started to explain the events of the night before.
“With a night as cold as yesterday, if that little thing is left outside and ignored, it might just freeze to death. There weren’t any other people around, taking it home is human nature right. Ne, Alas=Ramus.”
“Meow meow!”
Maou made eye contact with Alas=Ramus sitting on Emi’s well defined legs.
Even though Alas=Ramus was woken up because Emi waved the holy sword around, once she saw the kitten, the displeasure she felt at being woke up was thrown to the back of her mind.
“Meow meow! Meow? I want to see.”
Emi pushed Alas=Ramus, who asked to see the kitten, back onto her legs.
If a child, who does not know how to control their own strength, is allowed to play with that kitten, it might injure the kitten, conversely, the child might also get hurt from a counterattack.
“Something like human nature, shouldn’t be said by a Demon King such as yourself right.”
Emi placated Alas=Ramus, who was sitting on her legs and kept wanting to approach the kitten, and frowned in an obvious manner.
“But…….that’s true. With that kind of situation, it really can’t be helped.”
After changing the huge hammer back into a hairclip and putting it back into her hair with smooth movements, Suzuno peered into the cardboard box.
Within the simple bed of an old towel, a silver ball of fur moved its short legs, sniffing around inside the box.
Not knowing what it was bothered by, the kitten knocked into the corner of the box with its nose, then stared at the sky which had nothing in it, even though it was unpredictable, its actions are really too cute.
“Suzuno, your mouth is open.”
“Ah!”
Suzuno, immersed in her watching, came to her senses and raised her head.
“Hmph, actually showing such an idiotic un-Inquisitor-like expression. You’re the same level as Alas=Ramus.”
The blushing Suzuno ignored Ashiya’s ridicule as he finally cleaned up the milk powder on the floor, and said to Maou in an intentionally low threatening voice,
“Anyway, we know that you’re not planning to eat cute animals.”
“Oi.”
“Papa, don’t eat the meow meow!”
Alas=Ramus’s stern expression caused Maou to say dejectedly,
“See, you made Alas=Ramus form some weird misunderstanding.”
“……Sorry. But……”
After pausing, Suzuno surveyed the interior of the Demon Fortress which was quite similar to her room.
“What do you plan to do from now on. Villa Rosa Sasazuka prohibits pets right.”
“About this……”
Maou scratched in head in a troubled manner because of what Suzuno pointed out.
Honestly, this was also the main point of conflict between Ashiya, who wanted to put the kitten back where it was found, and Maou.
Even if it is so liberal such as there is no deposit, gift money or management fee, and also does not charge fees for renewal of facilities, and to the point that the landlady was often not at Villa Rosa Sasazuka, within the contract, like normal rental apartments, there was a clause where ‘pets are forbidden’.
Normally for the ‘forbidding of pets’, the landlord has a great amount of discretion, even though some places allow small birds or insects, basically anything which can make noise and therefore affect the lives of other residents, or any animals which can damage the current state of the building is forbidden.
And cats having the habit of using the pillars of houses to grind their claws are a well-known fact.
“But there whereabouts of the landlady is unknown now right? Even if we keep it for the time being…….”
Emi instigated Maou with words which did not seem to very Hero-like, but the latter used his chin to gesture at the hole in the wall in a troubled manner.
“Recently, because of the hole, I looked for the agent a few times.”
“Ah……”
If serious damage occurred in a tenant’s house, then the management company and landlady may come over anytime.
In addition, before that, as the current life of the Demon Fortress was mostly due to the landlady’s goodwill, they cannot go against the contract terms and betray the landlady’s trust.
“And there is still that guy’s problem.”
“That guy’s problem?”
Maou pointed towards the closet of the Demon Fortress.
At this moment, Emi and Suzuno finally realised that Urushihara could not be seen since earlier.
“That’s right, our house already has a noisy rice bucket here. If that guy becomes noisier, we won’t be able to withstand it.”
Ashiya said with a very troubled face.
“……Ah choo!”
Following that, a supressed sneeze was heard from within the closet.
“Urushihara seems to be allergic to cats.
“Ah?”
Then, the sneezes which were continuously heard today, unexpectedly, the reason was because of allergies.
“Demons can be allergic as well?”
Suzuno asked in an interested manner.
“You know about allergies as well?”
“Don’t underestimate me. The hospitals of the Churches are already researching this as part of epidemiology early on. After all, anaphylactic shock from bee allergies often occur in Ente Isla.”
Emi even added on,
“In other words, if Lucifer wants to cause trouble later on, we can just find a cat and get close to him right.”
“Stop joking!”
Urushihara protested against Emi’s cruel proposal with all his might.
“Stop that, it’s really very uncomfortable.”
Emi picked up the cardboard box and moved it closer to the closet, taking care not to scare the kitten, but Maou gently stopped her.
“Sigh, anyway, that’s how things are, so we cannot take care of it. However, the landlady isn’t cold hearted, if it’s just taking care of it before we find an owner, we should still be forgiven even if we are found out.”
“Compared to getting into good graces with the landlady who can’t even be seen, why don’t you be more concerned by my health! Cough cough cough!”
Maou openly ignored the protests coming from the closet.
“That’s how it is, can you think of anyone who can take it in?”
“……how is that possible.”
Suddenly being asked this, Suzuno momentarily became stone faced.
After that Maou looked towards Emi instead, but the latter also frowned, tilted her head and said,
“You should know I also live in a condominium, so I can’t take care of pets.”
The condominium which Emi rented was at Eifuku, three stations away from Sasazuka.
“Of course I know that, but you’re a part of the working class after all. Don’t you have any colleagues for friends who can take it in?”
Even though she is more of a Hero rather than part of the working class, Emi’s expression did not change.
“I think you shouldn’t habour any expectations.”
“Seriously……when I start working, let me try ask other people.”
Emi listened to Maou’s complaining, sighed and said,
“But even though it has such beautiful silver fur, and it’s already so big……actually throwing it away, it’s really too much.”
“Yeah.”
Maou nodded and replied.
Because I saw it shivering alone, I can’t just ignore it.”
“Eh?”
“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”
Once Emi questioned in return, Maou shook his head frantically for unknown reasons.
After that, in order to pass it as nothing, he clapped his hands together and said to Suzuno,
“That’s how things are, we might be very noisy during this period, please be understanding.”
“It’s not as if all of you were this noisy only today.”
“I want to touch the meow meow!”
At this moment, Alas=Ramus, who had reached the limit of her patience, started to kick.
“Hey, let her touch a bit!”
“Okay okay. But from this, she might just stick to that kitten the whole day.”
After letting go of Alas=Ramus, Maou and Emi tensed up, paying attention so she would not do anything too vigorous to the kitten.
Ashiya and Suzuno, who watched the three people from behind----
“…….Don’t say anything.”
“They look like a peaceful family no matter how you look at it.”
“So didn’t I tell you not to say anything?”
Demon and human, could only quarrel about these meaningless things.
※
The next day.
“How mean, actually throwing the kitten away.”
A junior at the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station where Maou works at----high school girl Sasaki Chiho, said this angrily as she stood next to the bicycle which Maou was pushing.
Chiho is the only Japanese person who knows the truth about Maou, Emi and Ente Isla, after she got off work, she headed for the Demon Fortress together with Maou.
Besides wanting to see the kitten, Chiho also wanted to try finding an area where she could help in.
“At that time, I was also flustered because I suddenly encountered this.”
Maou sighed deeply.
“Even though I felt that there is a slight problem with the me would brought the abandoned kitten back home under those circumstances, it would be better than leaving it there at the junkyard.”
“Ah haha……”
After reaching the apartment, Maou gave a long sigh.
Chiho looked up at the hole someone forcefully covered with a plastic sheet and forced out a laugh.
After walking up the stairs and opening the porch door of the Demon Fortress----
“Oh. I’m back......eh?”
Maou, after seeing the interior of the room and discovered that no one is answering him, said in confusion,
“Strange, there’s nobody.”
Chiho also looked over Maou’s shoulder and discovered that the Demon Fortress was totally quiet.
“……Ashiya went out to buy things.”
“Kya!”
Suddenly hearing a voice from an empty room, Chiho had a fright----and of course, that was Urushihara’s voice from the cupboard.
“Buy things? Then the kitten?”
“I zon’t know. He seemed to have zaid something to Bell.”
“Urushi, Urushihara-san, do you have a cold?”
Chiho was worried for Urushihara’s serious nasal voice.
Just at this time----
“Demon King-sama, ah, Sasaki-san is here too.”
The main subject of the conversation, Ashiya, came back carrying bags from the supermarket.
“Ashiya-san, hello.”
“Are you here to see the kitten?”
Chiho nodded in response to Ashiya’s question.
“Perhaps someone from my friends at school wants to take it in.”
“I see……Demon King-sama, my apologies, because I had to go out to buy things, I left the kitten with Bell.”
“What, so that’s what happened.”
Urushihara, who is allergic to cats, did not want to approach the kitten, if so, if Ashiya went out and left the kitten at home alone, it was difficult to guarantee that the cat would not get injured or destroy the room.
“Then hurry and bring it back. We already borrow Suzuno’s place every day to eat, I don’t want to owe her more favours.”
“Understood.”
After Ashiya placed the shopping bags into the room, he knocked on the door of room 201, where Suzuno lived.
“Bell, it’s me. I came to get the kitten.”
“……?”
However, no matter how he waited, no one replied.
“What happened?”
“Is Suzuno-san taking a nap?”
“No, I only left for 30 minutes or so, it shouldn’t reach that stage……hm?”
Looking carefully, Suzuno actually carelessly forgot to close the door.
Even though Suzuno can do anything she wants, it would be bad if the kitten ran out.
“Bell, I’m coming in. I’m taking the kitten……”
After Ashiya knocked the door once, he opened the door directly.
Then----
“…………………………………………….”
“Meow, meow, meow, how soft.”
What appeared in front of the three people is----
“…………………………………………….”
“Tsun tsun tsun tsun.”
was Suzuno with irregular breathing, repeatedly touching the kitten’s stomach and paw pads with a serious expression.
“Suzu, Suzuno-san?”
“……………………………….ah!”
Suzuno, who was about to pick up the kitten and play with its throat, came back to her senses the instant she heard Chiho’s voice, and once she discovered Chiho, Maou and Ashiya’s presences, she instantly turned red, totally unrelated to the evening sun.
“Ah, n, no! I, I……”
“Meow?”
Even though Suzuno frantically put the kitten back into the box, and intentionally straightened her yukata and turned away----
“Suzuno, there is cat fur all over your yukata sleeves.”
“Wh, wh, wh, wh, wh, wha, wha, wha……”
But Maou pointed to Suzuno’s sleeves, which obviously had large amounts of silver cat fur on them.
“W, w, wr, wr, wr, wr, wrong, th, th, th, th, this is! Erhm!”
“Do you like cats that much……”
“I have already returned it to you!”
The room door closed with a loud bang, and Maou, carrying the box holding the kitten, was chased into the public corridor.”
“Wah! It’s so cute!”
Once Chiho saw the silver kitten sleeping along the inner edge of the box with a twitching nose, Chiho let out a soft cheer.
“It’s really silver, it’s fur is so pretty.”
Other than Chiho, Maou also looked for all the employees working at the Hatagaya station MgRonalds to discuss about helping the kitty find an owner.
Even though Maou originally thought that he would not be able to find a person who can adopt it immediately, including Kisaki and his junior Chi-chan, everyone looked troubled once they heard the topic of adoption.
Because most of the employees at Hatagaya live alone in multi-unit apartments.
“Sigh……if only my father wasn’t allergic to cats……”
After seeing the kitten for a while, Chiho sighed in regret.
Chiho’s landed property home was quite a good environment for taking care of cats, but Chiho’s father Sasaki Senichi, like Urushihara, was seriously allergic to cats.
“No one knows who its previous owner was?”
“Even if it’s known, I do not wish to let it go back to the home which abandons cats.”
“That’s true……ah, how cute.”
Chiho’s smile had not disappeared since the beginning.
The evening sun shining into the Demon Fortress reflected off the kitten’s body in a golden glow.
“Hm?”
At this moment, Ashiya, who was in the kitchen, hearing knocking on the door.
“Alsiel.”
“What is it, cat lover?”
It was Suzuno’s voice, and Ashiya, in a rare moment, teased her a little.
“From today onwards, you guys can cook here by yourselves.”
Suzuno replied from outside in a low voice.
“……Emilia and Alas=Ramus are here.”
“……Wait a moment, I’ll open the door immediately.”
Even though Ashiya frowned from hearing Suzuno’s voice from the public corridor, he still unlocked the porch door.
Even this scene of a demon appearing to nonchalantly invite the Hero and Inquisitor into his home, has slowly become a part of normal life.
“Meow meow!”
Appearing in front of the door was Emi, who looked like she just got off from work, and Alas=Ramus, being carried by Emi.
“Even when I was working, she was still thinking about the kitten, and kept shouting ‘meow meow’ continuously……”
After saying an excuse which lacked the usual domineering air, Emi walked into the Demon Fortress.
“Oh, Alas=Ramus. Emi, you need to ask her to be quieter. Because the kitten is sleeping now.”
In some sense, it was normal for Maou to make such a reminder, but for them, this should be considered abnormal.
But Emi did not particularly rebuke this.
“You have to shhh-----oh?”
Once Emi asked Alas=Ramus to be quiet, the young girl obediently imitated Emi and raised her index finger in front of her mouth, and her middle finger raised together because of this as well.
“Meow meow is sleeping, you have to quietly watch it okay.”
“Yeah! Shh-----oh?”
Even though it was not known how much the young girl understands, in the end, Chiho and Emi moved aside so Alas=Ramus could see the kitten.
“Meow meow, is sleeping?”
After Alas=Ramus examined the inside of the box, she looked up and asked Emi.
“That’s right. You can’t wake it up.”
Maou asked Emi, who had instructed Alas=Ramus once more,
“At your workplace, are there girls who like cats?”
“I asked around, but basically, everyone lives in a condominium, they can’t raise one even if they wanted to. Even though I haven’t asked everyone yet that is.”
Emi’s job is answering calls at the customer service centre of the mobile phone company Docodemo.
“Is that so.”
Maou hung his head, discouraged, and looked towards everyone who had squeezed into the 6 tatami Demon Fortress.
“Sigh, there is a limit to asking one of us after all.”
“……Hey, who is ‘one of us’.”
Once she realised that ‘one of us’ Maou was referring to included her, Emi’s tone became stern.
“Why does it matter, don’t sweat the small stuff.”
“What small stuff……”
Even though Emi still wanted to protest, once she considered Alas=Ramus and the sleeping kitten, she still exerted her self-control and supressed her anger.
“……So, what do you plan to do? If no one wants to adopt it, you’re going to continue raising it?”
“Because it can’t be done, that’s why I’m so troubled.”
Maou mumbled softly.
Seeing Maou so undecided, Emi sighed lightly.
“Since ‘one of us’ is no good, then it’s fine to ask other people.”
“Ah?”
“Even though I feel that this is an old method! But when I still stayed in my hometown in Ente Isla, I always see people posting notices at the village church or the house of the village chief.”
Maou looked up in surprise.
“Posting notices……”
“I see……as long as it is posted in a prominent place, perhaps it might attract the attention of the people passing by.”
In a rare moment, Ashiya agreed with Emi’s suggestion.
“I thought so as well, so I tried to make it.”
“Kya!”
A hand suddenly stretched out from within the closet, causing Emi to shout out in surprise.
Even though Emi immediately discovered that was Urushihara’s hand, the scene of a hand holding a piece of paper suddenly appearing from the closet in an apartment room under the evening sun, it still looks very chilling.
“Lu, Lucifer? Don’t scare people like that!”
Urushihara threw out the piece of paper in his hand and closed the closet door immediately.
After Chiho picked up the piece of paper, she discovered that it was a simple flyer made from a word processer with photos of the kitten taken with a digital camera on it.
“When did you buy a digital camera and printer?”
Emi looked towards Maou coldly.
“Oh, because I want to use various ways to keep Alas=Ramus’s photos. And it was being sold cheaply at that time.”
“With an old model like this, it would be a rip off if it’s not sold at a cheaper price.”
Maou said happily, but Urushihara, in his closet, rebuked this mercilessly.
Besides that, Emi wanted even more to complain that since they had money to buy such things, why did they not buy a futon set for Alas=Ramus when she was staying at the Demon Fortress.
But before Emi could open her mouth----
“Erhm……”
Chiho asked Maou in a troubled manner,
“May I know what this ‘Ginshari’ means?”
(T/N: Ginshari is a term to refer to white rice in Japan.)
“Eh?”
Chiho passed the flyer to Maou, and when the latter examined it carefully, it discovered that the photos had the words ‘Name: Ginshari’ added next to them.
“This is what I thought of with Urushihara today.”
“……Spend more effort thinking about it! That is a cat.”
Now even Maou felt weak at Ashiya’s confession, but Ashiya answered seriously,
“Even though we don’t know how long we’re going to take care of it, but in order to prevent the issue of keeping the kitten from being found out by the landlady or agent, we have to be careful. Rather than saying it’s a name, this is more of the kitten’s codename.”
“That means it’s a name.”
Emi rebuked softly.
Since everyone has already asked other people if they could adopt it, it feels like there was no meaning even if they gave it a codename, but just as Maou started to feel that calling it ‘cat’ did seem rather inconvenient----
“Sigh, anyway, let’s ignore the name Ginshari first. This method is quite good, as long as we add one photo and attach our phone number, and indicate that we are looking for someone to adopt it……”
Even if it was a flyer made using a simple computer and printer, the layout was simple and easy to understand, and it looked it was not as if it could not be used.
Even though it being Emi and Urushihara’s idea made it a little unpleasant, but with things as they are, they could not be picky.
However----
“But……where should this be posted?”
Chiho looked between Maou and the flyer with a complex expression on her face, and objected against the location which everyone present was thinking.
“Where……can’t it be pasted on the telephone pole?”
“That’s what I originally thought……but it seems quite wrong, after all I rarely see someone pasting help notices on lost pets.”
Emi, who did not expect Chiho to object, could not help but say this.
“Actually, that cannot be done.”
Chiho said very apologetically.
“To put it in a more extreme manner, if notices of this type are pasted on the telephone pole, it might lead to a destruction of property offence. Especially Tokyo places a lot of restrictions on notices on telephone poles, so it’s really strictly prohibited in life safety lessons……”
B, but it’s only pasting notices for looking for pets……it would lead to destruction of property offence?”
This unexpected fact, cause Maou, Emi and Ashiya to be greatly surprised.
“Of course, if it’s just a notice for looking for pets, at most, it would be torn off by the police, or a verbal warning……but my dad said before, compared to the illegal nature of posting notices, it is difficult to guard against the trouble caused by publicising telephone numbers.”
“……Ah……I see.”
If it’s just a prank call, it wouldn’t be so bad, but it was said that because of this, money scams have occurred related to missing pets, attract stalkers, or thieves and burglaries.
“If notices have to be posted, then only Maou-san’s number can be posted right? If so, it might attract strange businesses like last time, I think it would be better not to do such a thing.”
“Last time? Business? What is that supposed to mean?”
“I, I understand! Yeah, Chi-chan is correct! We shouldn’t paste notices! Yeah, give it up!”
When Suzuno just came, Urushihara had been scammed by a visiting merchant when Ashiya went out, and bought unnecessary things.
Seeing that this incident, which had been secretly taken care of, was going to rise to the surface, Maou frantically shouted out.
“Er, erhm, even though Urushihara-san specially made a flyer, I actually spoilt it for everyone……I’m really sorry.”
From Chiho’s expression, she seemed to regret her model student like words.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. Chi-chan is right. It’s me who is too careless for wanting to publicise my number without thinking too much about it.”
Maou folded up the flyer with a wry smile, and threw it into the dustbin.
“Sigh……and I specially posted a topic on a pet related electronic board on the internet……wah!”
Ashiya hit the door a few times, causing the complaints within the cupboard to quiet down.
“That’s true……this isn’t a village like my old home. Because ever since I came here, I have always met up with good people, making me forget that this world actually has all kinds of people.”
Even though Emi also agreed to Chiho’s words, her opinion caused Suzuno standing next to her to widen her eyes.
“Emilia?”
“Hm? Is something wrong?”
“……Ah, no, it’s nothing.”
As Emi replied very naturally, therefore Suzuno could not continue with this line of questioning.
“With this, we can only steadily find someone to take it in.”
After Emi said this, she picked up Alas=Ramus, who did not grow tried to staring at ‘Ginshari’ at all.
“Ah-um, I still want, see meow meow!”
“You’re going back?”
“Because I still have to go to work tomorrow. I will help you ask my colleagues, but don’t expect too much.”
“……Oh, erhm, thanks.”
“Then, Chiho, I’m going back first.”
“Meow meow bye bye! Bye bye!”
“Ah, yeah, thank you for the help.”
“……And, Demon King.”
“What is it.”
After Emi looked at Maou and ‘Ginshari’, she said softly,
“It’s said that even if you only looked after it for one or two days and feed it, feelings will still develop, And you guys actually even gave it a name, if you feel depressed after finding it an owner, I won’t be bothered.”
“……Ah?”
“Then, that’s it.”
Emi took Alas=Ramus and left quickly.
“What’s up with her?”
Maou tilted his head, thinking, but Chiho seemed to understand Emi’s words and looked over with a worried gaze.
Chiho was worried that if the kitten they had taken care off left, Maou might just fall into depression like the time when he did not know that Alas=Ramus had merged with Emi.
“Maou-san, even if you find a new owner, please do not feel depressed, okay.”
“E, even Chi-chan says so?”
“Meow.”
As if it was responding to Maou’s mumbles, a cat’s cry was heard from the box.
“What exactly is going on. Ginshari, do you know?”
In this instant, the name of the kitten which was brought back was confirmed to be Ginshari.
※ Three days passed after that.
Maou and the others are already at their wit’s end.
Even though Emi and Chiho tried their best to ask their friends, they did not get a good response.
“I even asked the people in the community, but it’s still no good……what can be done……”
As a last resort, Maou even sincerely asked the seller of his prized steed----the bicycle Dullahan II, the bicycle shop owner Hirose, and the regular customers of MgRonalds who are also residents of the community Watanabe-san and the others, but the results are still the same.
If this goes on, they might really have to continue hiding this from the landlady and take care of Ginshari.
“Just let me off already!”
Urushihara’s cries from within the closet has already reached the limit.
His allergy symptoms grew worse every day.
Even though it was only sneezing at the beginning, but since yesterday, not only did he show symptoms of coughing and nose blockage, even his skin started to become rough, if this goes on, it might end up being really serious.
“Meow……”
Perhaps it was his imagination, but Ginshari’s meows seemed to become listless.
Maou looked at Ginshari inside the box.
At this moment, he suddenly felt that perhaps like what Ashiya said, putting the kitten back to its original location, might be better.
Even if they did not know beforehand, but a place with family members allergic to cats, is really not a good environment for raising a cat.
With Ginshari’s rare fur colour, if it is a person who can really take care of cats, they would definitely take it home without any hesitation.
However on the other hand, the temperature that day was extremely low.
Maou discovered it in the middle of the night on a road where nobody was around, and in Maou’s eyes at that time, the kitten, giving out weak cries, seemed like it was going to die anytime.
Maou also knew that for the king of Demons like him actually worrying about the safety of an abandoned cat, was really a strange thing.
If the person who passed by that time was Ashiya or Urushihara, they might just leave it alone, and Maou might probably not berate them for it.
But----
“I’m really too naïve……actually thinking that as long as I do something of this standard, I would be able to get closer to that person.”
Maou overlapped Ginshari’s figure with his past self----the him who, without knowing anything, had been thrown away like a torn piece of cloth and could only wait for death.
“Demon King-sama? Did you say anything just now?”
At this time, Ashiya, who went to Suzuno’s room to boil water to prepare milk for Ginshari, had returned, therefore Maou shook his head in reply.
Ashiya was already very used to feeding Ginshari milk, and he was seen picking up the kitten lightly in a way which it would naturally open up its mouth----
“Alright, Ginshari, time to eat.”
He talked to GInshari and moved the dropper close to its mouth.
“……Ginshari?”
“Hm, is something wrong?”
Maou approached in concern because Ashiya’s tone held some surprise.
“Uh, it’s not willing to drink milk for some reason……Ginshari, it’ll get cold that way. Drink quickly……”
“H, hey, Ashiya!”
Maou, observing Ashiya feeding the milk, grabbed Ashiya’s shoulder when he discovered Ginshari’s strange condition.
“Is, is it shivering?”
“R, right……let’s put it back in the box first.”
Ashiya cut off the action of feeding milk, and put Ginshari back into the cupboard box----
“Gin, Ginshari!”
However after walking two or three shaky steps in the box, Ginshari slumped down weakly.
“Meow……”
“Eh?”
Maou groaned.
Ginshari actually defecated in this slumped down posture.
And its stools was filled with water, and was not solid like yesterday.
“Hey hey hey, Ashiya, it, it’s doesn’t look good?”
“Is, is it diarrhoea? But I should have fed it milk suitably adjusted to human temperature……”
“……yeah……”
““Wah!””
This time Maou and Ashiya freaked out.
Ginshari actually spit out a small mass of unknown origin.
“W,w,wh,what, it threw up?”
“I, I shouldn’t have fed it any strange things?”
Not only did Ginshari had a stomach upset, it even threw up a mystery object.
“W, w, what should we do? I, it can’t be saved after all? Did it catch a cold on the day I took it back home?”
Ginshari, who showed his situation for the first time, caused the Demon King and Demon General to panic.
“Ah choo!”
““Yah!””
Maou and Ashiya jumped because of an exaggerated sounding sneeze.
The two of them turned to the source of the sound, and discovered that the sliding door of the closet was slightly open.
“Urushi, Urushihara?”
“Don’t scare people, idiot!”
“……Ib zay (I say)……”
Urushihara, whose pronunciation was affected from the nose blockage, held out a piece of paper with information printed on it from the gap in the closet.
“It’s useless even if both of ‘ou panicked. Go fin’ a professional.”
After Urushihara said this, he threw the paper into the room, and closed the sliding door quickly.
After Maou picked up the paper----
“……Aurora Animal Clinic?”
and discovered that the map of a nearby animal hospital was printed on it.
※
“Alright, we will undergo some checks, please wait a while.”
Maou handed the box containing Ginshari to the nurse at the counter, and sat on the bench in the clinic with a frail look on his face.
Even though Maou had never paid attention to animal hospitals, once he saw the map Urushihara printed, he discovered that there were a few animal hospitals near the Demon Fortress.
After dialling the number of one of them and explaining Ginshari’s condition, as the other party said they could diagnose it immediately, Maou carefully put the box containing Ginshari onto Dullahan II, and quickly rushed to Aurora Animal Clinic.
From the counter, various animals in the clinic could be seen.
Other than the commonly seen cats, dogs and birds, even the less commonly seen chameleon could be seen.
As the waiting area used warm coloured fashionable decorations, it did not feel like a hospital at all.
The shelf providing reading materials for the customers was naturally filled with many magazines.
Even though Maou picked up a cat magazine and flipped a few pages, he could not process the content at all.
Even though he occasionally tried to peek into the consultation room, the interior could not be seen from the waiting area.
The billboard, besides asking owners to vaccinate their dogs from rabies, and promotions for new medicines, it also pasted advertisements for the newest pet products, a specialised area which Maou had never came into contact with.
Amongst this information, a photo of a dog grabbed Maou’s attention.
“Found a great adopter……?”
It was a notification that a puppy born at the home of the hospital staff had already found an adopter.
The photo only had a large sized dog nursing a few puppies, and on it was even handwritten words of every puppy’s name and the words ‘Found a home!’.
Just as Maou was attentively looking at these advertisements----
“Maou-san, please come in.”
A stout bespectacled man poked his head out from the consultation room and invited Maou in.
Maou looked up suddenly, and ran into the consultation room like he wanted to break in.
“Ginshari! Uh……eh?”
On the platform where the patients are placed, Ginshari was energetically eating something which resembled pet food in large gulps.
“Eh……?”
“Sigh, as you see, it’s very lively.”
Even though it had entered the consultation room less than 20 minutes ago, Ginshari could already steadily stand on its own feet in front of the feeding bowl.
The man wearing the nameplate ‘Veterinarian: Yoshimura’, asked Maou to sit down.
“Please sit. Even though it looks fine now, but bringing it here is the right decision.”
“Is, is that so……”
Veterinarian Yoshimura asked Maou while looking at the medical history table,
“Even though it’s a bit rude, but regarding this cat, erhm……”
“It’s called Ginshari.”
“……yeah, may I know if Ginshari, is the cat being taken care of by Maou-san?”
“Eh?”
“Is it given by someone, or an abandoned cat you brought home?”
Maou replied in shock at the accurate guess,
“H, how do you know?”
Yoshimura did not answer Maou’s question immediately but spoke while looking at the medical history table,
“Judging from the explanation through the phone, you seemed to have fed it milk meant for kittens……did you feed it anything else? Such as the food for kittens which it is eating right now……”
“No……because it still looks young.”
“This is the reason for it feeling uncomfortable this time. Actually Ginshari has reached the stage where it should already be weaned off milk products. Converting to age, it has already been more than 60 days since it was born. Normally, the owner should know how to raise a kitten, but Maou-san seems to not know too much about this, so I deduced that it might have been picked up from the streets……”
For enthusiasts or professionals, this seems to be a natural thing to know.
Yoshimura continued to speak,
“If it only drinks milk, then it shouldn’t have enough nutrients. To put it in a simpler manner, if it is only given liquids, of course it would get diarrhoea because its stomach is too empty.”
“I, I see……”
Maou, in a dazed manner, continued watching Ginshari eating the pet food with large mouthfuls.
“Such a bright silver colour is rare, and from its green eyes, Ginshari might be a breed known as a Russian Blue Cat. This type of cat is very wary before being familiar with humans. Normally, before this age, this type of cat will be with its parents, probably because it was suddenly abandoned, so it accumulated quite a lot of stress in an unfamiliar environment.”
“Cats……can also be stressed?”
Even though Maou was still unsure of the situation, Yoshimura said very seriously,
“Don’t underestimate stress okay? Even humans can get gastric perforation from stress. Especially when animals are still young, their bodies are weaker, and problems can appear immediately.”
After that, Ginshari, which seemed satisfied, finally left the bowl and started to lick its own body.
“Just a mention, that hairball it spit out, is body fur which clumped up after being swallowed from cleaning up its fur like right now.”
“Hair, hairball?”
“That’s right. Cats which swallow more, might spit out hairballs two or three times a week. To cats, this is a natural occurrence.”
“…………”
Maou realised sorrowfully about this severe lack of knowledge about this world’s cats.
Because Ginshari, who had finished cleaning its fur after much effort, started to walk around the treatment platform, Yoshimura put it back into the box Maou brought with practiced movements.
But Ginshari, who became lively after eating its fill, started to jump around and shake the box, so Yoshimura continued to grab the edge of the box and did not let go.
“……it’s actually such an energetic child huh.”
Maou said listlessly,
“I originally thought that Ginshari recovered a little after coming home, but I had never seen it jump so energetically.”
“It was that weak at that time?”
Under Yoshimura’s questioning, Maou roughly explained the events of taking Ginshari home.
“I was acting irresponsibly right?”
“What do you mean?”
Yoshimura expressed his confusion at Maou’s words.
“Uh, because I don’t have an environment suitable for raising pets, yet I brought it home…..so I caused these things to happen to it, I already took it home, yet I let it starve, isn’t that putting the cart before the horse……”
Once a person was taken into his home, he must properly protect his life, this was the promise Maou made himself when he gathered troops in the Demon World.
However, he who lost his demonic magic and became a human, could not even take care of a street side kitten properly.
Maou, who felt a sense of powerlessness after a gap of more than a hundred years, Yoshimura said directly,
“You’re not irresponsible at all.”
Yoshimura said as he looked at Ginshari which bit on the towel and rolled around, shaking the box continuously,
“Sigh, even though the landlord at the apartment you’re staying would not be happy……not only did you investigate a way to feed it, you even helped it find an owner, and once you discovered something wrong, you immediately brought it for treatment. If Maou-san did not take it home, this child might die on the streets before it was given the name Ginshari and brought to our hospital. Maou-san has nothing to feel guilty about. If something must be said, the previous owner which abandoned Ginshari in the first place is the most irresponsible person.”
Even though it was a little pathetic, Yoshimura’s steadfast answer gave Maou the sense of being saved.
A Demon King actually being encouraged by a human veterinarian, he really cannot be helped now.
“……But, in the end, I have not found a person who can take proper care of it……”
With things as they are, Maou can no longer abandon Ginshari.
But even if Maou’s extensive connections were used, he still could not help Ginshari find a new owner.
Yoshimura said after thinking for a while,
“Maou-san, have you seen the billboard at the waiting room?”
“Eh? Are you referring to helping dogs vaccinate……ah!”
Maou remembered that on the billboard in the waiting room, besides the various notifications, there was information that a puppy somewhere had found an owner.
“Even though finding someone immediately cannot be guaranteed, but do you want to try asking for an owner at our waiting room? Cats like Ginshari with good conditions and beautiful silver fur is uncommon. I think amongst the customers coming to our hospital, there should be someone who wants to adopt, Because Ginshari cannot be kept at our hospital, I still have to trouble Maou-san to continue taking care of it for a while, but I promise that once a prospective owner appears, I would definitely introduce someone who can be trusted to you.”
“Meow!”
Before Maou could nod to Yoshimura’s great suggestion, Ginshari had already answered with an energetic voice.
“So like this, it’s no longer considered a small child after all.”
As Ginshari continued to cause trouble within the box, Maou spent a lot of effort to bring it back to the Demon Fortress.
After Ashiya heard the diagnosis results from Maou, he said this with feeling.
“Cats seem to become adult cats after just one year. On the way back, it kept being mischievous inside the box.”
Ginshari, who could not be sent back into the box again after coming home, kept walking back and forth in a lively manner on the tatami.
“And then……”
After seeing the things Maou brought back together with Ginshari, he showed a complex expression.
“It seems like we require at least these things currently.”
Under the suggestion of Aurora Animal Clinic, besides sugar supplements to add to the milk and a plate to hold the solid food, cat litter for the cat to go to the toilet and a guidebook for taking care of kittens was also placed next to the box for containing Ginshari.
“Actually it doesn’t cost as much as it looks, including the consultation fee, it only costs around 7000 yen.”
Hearing the price 7000 yen, Ashiya’s expression froze for an instant.
“Meow! Meow!”
At this moment, Ginshari, which had fully regained its energy approached Ashiya’s legs and weaved between his legs in a figure of 8 pattern with steady steps, and just as Ashiya met with Ginshari’s clear and moist eyes as it occasionally stopped to look at the owner----
“Sigh, this, this can’t be helped.”
He said in a soft hearted manner.
“Pu-shu……meow.”
“Huff, huff, yeah, ah, erhm, how much pet food do I need to pour for one meal……”
Ashiya felt the sting of Ginshari’s fur as it penetrated his pants and groaned strangely. He slowed down to prevent stepping on Ginshari accidentally.
However, Ginshari obediently followed next to Ashiya, not willing to leave him.
Maou, who smiled subconsciously when he saw this scene, started to rummage through the shopping bag like he suddenly remembered something.
“Also, this is a high quality mask I bought at the hypermart. Urushihara, just wear this and tolerate it for a while longer.”
“Noooo wayyyyyyy!”
“Meow! Meow! Meow!”
A tragic cry of a fallen angel was heard from the closet, as if it was teasing Urushihara, Ginshari left Ashiya’s side and meowed in front of the closet.
Seeing that Ginshari was going to use its claws to claw at the sliding door, Maou quickly picked it up.
“Seriously, so noisy……”
Suzuno frowned in the neighbouring room, but from the joy in her voice, she seemed to be privately relieved that Ginshari was alright.
After that, another period of time passed.
Ginshair had already recovered the liveliness a kitten should have, and also got used to the members of the Demon Fortress, and caused a lot of mischief for the demons who planned to take over the world.
But after all, they are the Demon King, and one of the Four Kings known as a Chisho.
(T/N: Chisho is an ancient term to refer to a general with intelligence and wits and a high ability to lead the army in war. An important commander on the battle field).
They no longer made a mistake in the amount for GInshari’s pet food, and could easily stop Ginshari from knocking into any furniture because it played around too much.
Especially the skill of accurately taking note of when the kitten wanted to go to the toilet and putting it on the cat litter, it was already at the professional level.
In order for Ginshari to be able to live comfortably in the cupboard box, the demons would also periodically change the torn towels inside, and right now, even the emergency bought cat milk was almost finished.
Because Ginshari really liked the cat toy stick Maou bought at the 100 yen store, now even if Maou was not waving it, the kitten would also bite the cat toy stick on its own to play.
“……Seeing them like this, would it really be alright when an adopter appears later?”
“I don’t know, don’t ask me.”
“It’s really cute.”
“Ah choo!”
Seeing the two demons playing with the silver kitten, Emi, Suzuno and Chiho voiced their own thoughts, as for Urushihara, he just sneezed as usual.
Therefore, when it was going to be two weeks after the Demon King brought Ginshari back home----
“……Ugh!”
Maou’s phone received a phone call from Aurora Animal Clinic.
Because it has already slowed become a fixed routine for using the evening time to play with the cat, Maou had the feeling of getting cold water thrown on him.
“Maou-san, this is Yoshimura. I have someone here who wants to adopt Ginshari……”
“Is that so……”
“Meow? Meow! Meow!”
Discovering that Maou was not concentrating on playing with it, Ginshari started to climb on Maou’s body, intending to get his attention.
Maou let Ginshari used his claws to grab his own skin and the sleeves on his shirt, and continued to talk to Yoshimura.
And Ashiya also had an expression of preparedness, watching Maou and Ginshari like this.
As for Urushihara, he was holding his breath in the closest, sneezing softly.
“……”
After Maou finished speaking, he did not forget the original purpose, and let Ginshari down from his shoulders as it started to challenge climbing Maou’s head, and said directly,
“They found someone to adopt it.”
“……Is that so……”
“The other party seems to be a trusted person. And their experience in raising cats is very comprehensive, it’s said that the cats which that person raised before lived much longer than the average life expectancy.”
“……a really good candidate huh.”
“……yeah.”
Even though it was a topic to be happy about, Maou and Ashiya’s tone was gloomy.
“Both of you feel gloomy.”
Urushihara in the closet said this.
“Doctor Yoshimura arranged for us to meet with the other person tomorrow. Of course he said that it’s alright even if we reject……”
“……I don’t think we can do that. After all, this cat shouldn’t be staying here.”
Because Maou and the others originally were unable to take care of Ginshari until the end at the Demon Fortress, they started looking for someone to adopt it.
Since an ideal party appeared, they did not have a reason to reject.
Maou picked up Ginshari, who finally climbed on the head of the Demon King, moved it close to his face and said,
“That’s great, Ginshari. Finally someone is willing to take you in.”
Ginshari looked down at its temporary owner’s inexplicable expression, and yawned innocently.
“Meow……uh!”
“……I say, don’t throw up a hairball at a time like this.”
Ginshari threw up a hairball in front of Maou and started to struggle by waving its four limbs, an atmosphere which lacked any sadness.
“Ah, that’s right, Emi and Chi-chan also took care of it a lot, so we have to let them know. Like this, from tomorrow onwards, that person wouldn’t have to worry about Ginshari being eaten by us.”
The deepness of the feelings Maou and Ashiya invested in Ginshari, have reached the stage where it cannot be taken back.
“Meow meow, is going to see a doctor?”
Alas=Ramus looked up at Maou from the child seat of the Demon King’s prized steed----bicycle Dullahan II.
“We’re going to meet its new owner.”
Maou, pushing the bike forward, nodded and said this.
Ginshari, inside the cupboard box secured in the shopping basket at the front, was quieter than usual because of the nervousness felt from the rare outing.
After Maou told Emi that Ginshari will be given to a new owner, for unknown reasons, Emi appeared with Alas=Ramus.
After confirming that the hospital was near Villa Rosa Sasazuka----
“It’s a rare chance, take her out with you.”
In a rare action, Emi gave Alas=Ramus to Maou to take care of.
“……Did she get cat influenza?”
Even though Maou was shocked because of the suggestion which did not match Emi’s style, Emi, who seemed to lack motivation lately, said nonchalantly,
“I heard from Rika. On the way home after giving a foster pet to someone else, there will be an abnormal feeling of loneliness. Why don’t you take Alas=Ramus for a meal? It’s still hot today, you have to be careful of dehydration and make sure she doesn’t catch a cold because of the air conditioning.”
“……Once I hear you say this, I only feel that it is very strange.”
Even if Maou felt unhappy because his reluctance to part with GInshari was seen through, coupled with the fact of accepting his enemy’s generosity----
“Oh my. Don’t tell me you want one of us to see your demoralised state because you feel lost after separating from Ginshari?”
Once he was teased like this, he could only close his mouth obediently.
“Actually even if you want to go alone, I don’t mind. Alas=Ramus, Papa doesn’t seem to want to go out with you, what can be done……”
“Aah, seriously! I’m going out!”
Maou ignored the evilly acting Emi, and under the gazes of Ashiya, who looked reluctant to part, Suzuno and Chiho, he headed for Aurora Animal Clinic.
“Meow meow~~ meow meow~~”
Alas=Ramus waved her hands, and sang a strange tune without any fixed rhythm.
Maou gave a wry smile seeing the situation, and paid attention to the box holding Ginshari, preventing Alas=Ramus from hitting the box due to a bout of excitement, and then father and daughter, as well as the cat slowly reached Aurora Animal Clinic.
Once Maou stopped the bicycle, he first picked Alas=Ramus up from the seat and put her down, and after instructing her to be good, Maou picked up the box containing Ginshari which had been tied down to the shopping basket.
For reasons unknown, Alas=Ramus started to walk next to Maou while using both her hands to cover her mouth.
“Alas=Ramus, why are you covering your mouth?”
Maou asked curiously.
“Being good, shh~~”
It looks like to Alas=Ramus, ‘being good’ is equivalent to ‘being quiet”.
Discovering that the child who saw him as a father actually interpreting his meaning like this, Maou subconsciously showed a smile, and therefore, Maou, who felt rather assured, opened the front door of Aurora Animal Clinic.
“Ah, Maou-san, I’ve waited for a while……eh? This young lady is……”
Veterinarian Yoshimura, who had been waiting at the waiting room beforehand, was shocked when he saw Alas=Ramus next to Maou.
“Uh, how should I put it, this is my daughter.”
“Is, is that so.”
“Bark bark!”
After seeing the human porcelain dog at the waiting room entrance, Alas=Ramus’s eyes shone, and immediately released her ‘quiet’ mode.
[Image of Maou with Alas=Ramus]
“Hey, Alas=Ramus, shhh~ okay.”
“Shh----? Bark bark must shh----too.”
Even though the porcelain dog only dangled an ‘OPEN’ sign and did not make any sound, Alas=Ramus still seriously placed her index finger in front of her mouth.
“Then, about the person who is willing to adopt Ginshari……”
“Alright, let me introduce you. This is……”
Once Maou saw the person who stood up from the bench deep within the waiting room at the calling of Veterinarian Yoshimura, he widened his eyes in surprise.
“Eh? Hirose-san?”
“Eh? Both of you know each other?”
Once Yoshimura heard Maou’s word, he also got a shock.
The person standing there is the owner of Hirose Bicycle Shop, shop manager Hirose.
Because Maou had been rejected when he sought out Hirose to discuss about Ginshari, when he found out that the adopter was actually Hirose, he found it difficult to conceal his shock.
“I feel rather embarrassed, Maou, since I rejected you so coldly earlier.”
Hirose said embarrassedly with a wry smile,
“Did you hear from Doctor Yoshimura that I had taken care of cats before?”
“I heard that that cat lived for a long time……”
“Yeah, if so, about the point which it ‘lived for a long time’, I shouldn’t need to explain anymore. It passed away 2 years ago.”
“But I feel that Hirose-san’s Luna lived very happily.”
Yoshimura said warmly like he was reminiscing the past.
“Luna is that cat’s name?”
“That’s right.”
Hirose, with a level-headed character, said bashfully,
“I started taking care of it before I got married, to be direct, that cat’s age is older than my first child. After it passed away, my whole family was saddened for a long time, therefore I originally did not want to take care of another cat besides Luna, this was also the reason why I rejected you at first……erhm, can I open that box?”
After getting Maou’s approval, Hirose opened up the box in Maou’s arms.
“Meow?”
After that, Ginshari poked its head out without any hesitation.
“I got a shock when I saw the photo, this child looks exactly like Luna. Luna was also a Russian Blue cat, and its fur was especially bright, perhaps it might not be a purebred, even then, it was still very beautiful. Just as I coincidentally came to visit Doctor Yoshimura because the anniversary of Luna’s death was coming, my eyes were immediately attracted to that notice, and I felt I couldn’t leave that cat alone……have you already given it a name?”
“It’s called Ginshari.”
“Ginshari……”
Even though Hirose was momentarily speechless, he still smiled immediately,
“Are you willing to let it come to my house? Of course, I do not plan to treat it as Luna’s replacement, but a new family member. Erhm, even though I don’t know if the children can accept the name ‘Ginshari’, but I will try to find a way to convince them.”
“As long as all of you can treasure it, you can give it any name you want.”
After Maou replied this with a smile, he passed the box containing Ginshari to Hirose.
“Can I come and see it occasionally?”
“Of course.”
“Meow.”
It looks like Ginshari did not have any special opinions about its new owner.
※
“What, so it’s someone who lives nearby.”
“And it was actually someone I know.”
Emi listened to Maou’s result report with an uninterested look on her face.
“Bark bark, bark bark!”
Alas=Ramus was holding a porcelain puppy doll, and Emi sighed after discovering that Maou spoilt the child.
“Sigh, that’s too bad. I originally though that you would be just like when Alas=Ramus disappeared, crying on the way back, demoralised from depression.”
“……Seriously you.”
Emi’s teasing concerned tone, caused Maou to feel very uncomfortable.
“Hirose-san, is it the Hirose-san who runs the bicycle shop on the shopping street?”
As expected of a local, Chiho seems to know where Hirose’s shop is.
“Isn’t that great. Isn’t it nearby? Like this, Ginshari and Maou-san won’t be lonely anymore!”
Chiho’s careless sentence, caused Maou to feel worse.
“I, I won’t feel lonely in the first place. And after that, I still have to send things to Hirose-san’s house, so I still haven’t felt any feelings of goodbye.”
Maou, who felt seen through because of Chiho’s innocent words, actually still had to deliver some miscellaneous products needed to take care of Ginshari to Hirose later.
They planned to first use some tools which the kitten is used to, then slowly spend time to let to get adjusted to the lifestyle of Hirose’s family.
Maou packed a few items related to Ginshari into a bag, but only when he was packing the cat stick toy with fresh teeth marks on it, he felt a stab in his heart.
“Hey, Emi.”
“What is it?”
“……Thank you for bringing Alas=Ramus over.”
“……”
“What, so you still felt lonely after all”----even though Emi almost said this, because Maou immediately looked away, she missed the chance to open her mouth.
“……Sigh. It feels like rather than suddenly creating motivation, it’s more like losing the feeling of tension.”
This is actually one of the many sighs Ashiya did tonight.
Perhaps compared to Maou, it was Ashiya who was more listless.
As Ashiya and Maou took turns to be in charge of feeding Ginshari, the both of them were temporarily unable to break the habit of checking the clock and looking towards the corner of the room where Ginshari’s cardboard box was originally placed.
Maou, who played with Ginshari once he got home from work for the past few days, lay on the tatami because he was suddenly free.
As for Urushihara----
“…….”
He had not walked out of the closet.
“Hey, isn’t it about time for you to come out, Ginshari is not around anymore. It should be very hot inside right.”
“……”
With Maou’s call, Urushihara opened the closet sliding door and poked half a head out.”
“So scary. Are you Zashiki Warashi?”
“……Ah, it’s no good after all.”
Urushihara ignored Maou and closed the closet immediately.
“Ashiya, even tomorrow is okay, please use the vacuum cleaner to clean up.”
“……Why do I have to clean according to your orders.”
Ashiya replied with an impassive face.
“Ginshari’s fur and smell is still around. So it feels like my nose is itching again! Think of it as me begging you, early tomorrow morning, use the vacuum cleaner……ah, ah, ah……”
Urushihara suddenly stopped talking and started to produce strange breathing sounds.
Then----
“Ah choo----!”
And gave an exaggerated sneeze.
“It’s hard on you too……”
Different from Urushihara, Maou, who did not sense anything related to Ginshari, said this with feeling.
“But……this room, there was a cat here once.”
“That is correct……but Demon King-sama, saying it this way, other people will think Ginshari has passed away. We should pray that it can grow up healthily in Hirose-san’s home.”
“……That’s right.”
Once Maou nodded, an angry voice was heard from the closest.
“Don’t start reminiscing because of my sneeze! Ah……ah choo!”
Urushihara’s sneeze shook the walls of the closet, and this sound caused Suzuno next door to frown.
“Pray that it grows up healthily huh……”
“Demon King-sama?”
“……Ugh, I just feel that this really can’t even be called a joke.”
“Hm?”
“……it’s nothing, let’s sleep. Hey, Urushihara! Hurry up and open the door, I want to take a towel blanket!”
“Wah! W, wait, let me put on the mask first……didn’t I ask you to wait? Ah, ah choo!”
Even though Suzuno was annoyed at the Demon Fortress’s juvenile agreement, but only on the point of praying that the silver kitten could grow up healthily, she was of the same opinion as them.
“……The Demon King, saved a small life huh……”
Even though the skies above the Earth did not have any Gods who can be prayed to, Suzuno still thought while looking up at the endlessly spanning cloudless sky.
“If this virtuous deed can bring a glimmer of hope to the Demon King, then who will offer a helping hand, and in what way.”
The feelings of demons, the feelings of humans, the summer night ignored all this feelings, and solemnly darkened under the summer heat and the noise of the city.
END
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