Volume 4 part 1

Hataraku-Maou Vol 4 translations

Vol 4 Prologue

Emeralda Etuva could feel her already short height decreasing because of all the stress.
Not only is she the Holy Court Magician of the Saint Aire Empire, she is also widely known as the companion to the
Hero, and is currently one of the most influential people in the Western Continent.
The Court Magician, a scholar, always gives others the impression of a consultant, and before the invasion of the
Demon King’s army, Emeralda had no reason to interfere in politics and foreign affairs. However, her accumulated
knowledge as a result of travelling around the various lands as the Hero’s companion attracted the attention of the
Five Continent Knight Alliance, the people in charge of restoring the land.
Ever since she was able to give her opinions as one of the important members of the Knight Alliance, the amount of
responsibility which Emeralda had to carry is now a lot more compared to before they challenged the Demon King’s
army.
Not only did she incite the feelings of jealousy amongst the important people in Saint Aire, she is also seen as an
enemy because of Olba’s incident, which caused a major uproar in the church.
“After the restoration of the Central Continent, I really want to escape~~”
The stress Emeralda is under is so serious that she started to complain very seriously to Albertio, her travelling
companion in the past.
The only thing to be thankful about is that after she was summoned to the Five Continent Knight Alliance, she ended
up commanding the section in charge of the wiping out of the demons.
Of course, unless the demon is a really strong opponent, Emeralda would not need to handle it personally.
Even then, seeing the fighters from various countries banding together to get rid of the demons in the Central
Continent to carry out the pure justice of protecting the weak, she can still feel that these lands are still filled with
hope.
But there is something which only Emeralda knows.
The battle between the Hero and the Demon King is still going on in a faraway foreign world.
However, people do not know about this. Not even two years after the defeat of the Demon King’s army, most
people have already forgotten Hero Emilia, treating her as a ‘Legend’.
Emeralda and Albertio had worked hard, hoping that Emilia will regain back the fame and reputation she had lost
because of Olba.
However, the world right now did not need the name of Hero Emilia.
Alive or dead, to most of the people living in this world, Emilia Justina is only “The Hero who Exists Somewhere in
this World”.
Based on what Emeralda knows, there are only a few people who can see this name as a reality.
In order to restore Emilia’s name, the unrighteous actions of the church, who seek to seal Emilia up as a legend,
would have to be exposed, causing them to lose their authority.
However, if the rulers decide to carry out their justice in outrage, sometimes it would hurt the citizens in the end. If
the two great powers in the Western Continent, Saint Aire and the Church, decide to go against one another, the
whole continent will be split into two, thus weakening the nation as a whole.
Emeralda felt perplexed.
Since the other four major continents are focusing on the restoration, naturally she would try to avoid the situation
where only the Western Continent is wasting their effort on internal conflict.
Compared to her friend’s reputation, as a politician, Emeralda Etuva chose the nation’s future.
This did not mean that Emeralda is cold. Something happened which caused her to make up her mind.
Church Inquisitor Crestia Bell.
The top Inquisitor with the nickname “Death Scythe Bell” which people tremble in fear of is now a reliable comrade
of Emilia.
A member of the Church who can express her opinions directly to the Pope is currently taking action to restore
Emilia’s name and rebuild the church. To Emeralda, this is very good news.
In addition, she belonged to an organization under Olba, this brings about huge implications.
Even if the citizens hesitate because of the punishment from the “Six Archbishops”, if Crestia corrects the actions of
the Church in Emilia’s place, it would appear that the Church is handling things internally, and the stability built up
through the religion will not be shaken up as much. Meaningless political battle or restlessness amongst the citizens
would be kept to a minimum.
In the end, if Emilia, with her far reaching reputation, openly opposed the church, then the matter would definitely
develop into something which cannot be controlled while greatly shaking up the citizen’s lives.
As Emilia’s friend, this kind of result does make her slightly unhappy, but after considering her friend’s reputation
and the stability of the citizens, Emeralda decided that it would be more advantageous for Crestia to handle the
situation.
She wondered if she would have a chance to meet Crestia face to face in the future to praise each other for fighting
for the same friend.
“I hope such a day will come! But at the same time, I don’t really want to~~”
Emeralda said to herself as she read the reports in the office assigned by the Five Continent Knight Alliance.
“However~~it might be better if Emilia doesn’t return at all~~”
That peaceful and prosperous foreign world known as Japan.
It might not be that bad for Emilia to treat that nation as her second home, staying there and living a peaceful life.
Emeralda glanced at the magical tool at the corner of the table, the “mobile phone”.
“Hey, Em, listen to me!”
Even though the other party sounds rather angry, it also held some signs of liveliness.
“Those people are supposed to be the Demon King and demons, but they actually participate in community cleaning,
it’s laughable.”
This knight of the Church who staked her whole life to avenge her father---
“Hey, Em! I lost! I actually lost to the Demon King! Why are diapers so difficult to change?”
Getting angry, crying and laughing in a manner which matches her age.
A few days ago, when Emilia discussed with her about the true identity of “the girl who was born from the apple”,
even she was shocked. However, rather than being concerned about the birth of the girl, Emilia seemed more
concerned about the girl treating her and Maou and mother and father, and did not care too much about “Heaven”
or “Sephira”, topics which should be taken seriously and thought about.
“I want to restore my father’s wheat field.”
That was Emilia’s dream in the past.
However, once she returns to Ente Isla, she would become Emilia Justina, the Hero who saved the world. Once
Emilia’s reputation is restored, she would be a true symbol of justice; but for her, she would be unable to fulfill that
small dream.
Even though she is able to interact with Emilia simply as a friend, but she would still face many obstacles in her path.
Unrelated to what Emilia represented, she is already an important person in the field of politics.
“In this world, things really don’t always go one’s way~~”
In order to prevent herself from becoming shorter, Emeralda gave a huge sigh, changing her mood. Whatever
happens after Emilia achieves her original goal will be decided by Emilia herself.
It doesn’t matter if she returns to Ente Isla or not, Emeralda will work hard to create the ideal world. This is her
responsibility as one who admires a young girl as the Hero.
After that, Emeralda realised that she had made the assumption that Maou Satan will no longer return to Ente Isla.
The reason is simple. Because the Demon King now is no longer the Demon King known by Emeralda or the citizens
of Ente Isla.
The one who judged that Maou Satan is now working hard in the human world, living together with humans, and
acting as a parent and taking care of “the girl who was born from the apple” is no one other than the Hero Emilia.
“Peace was created without anyone being aware of how it was done~~should I reveal everything even at the cost of
new sacrifices~~how troubling~~”
Emeralda Etuva, Emilia’s friend and the Holy Court Magician of the Saint Aire Empire, these two identities were
conflicting with one another in her heart.
“Eh……?”
Emeralda, who was automatically stamping documents while thinking complicated thoughts, stopped her
movements because of the contents of one document.
She realised that the numbers of slain demons have increased in the recent 2 weeks. Even though it’s slow,
according to eyewitness accounts, the frequency of the appearance of demons had increased.
“…It feels~~I have a bad feeling~~”
Even though there were days where the number of encounters were zero in the previous month, with the passing of
each day, not only have the number of demons increased in these past 2 weeks, there was no decrease at all.
The numbers are not much, but the number of encounters had increased, this also means the number of sacrifices
will increase, this caused Emeralda to frown.
If this goes on, it might be better for her to investigate this personally.
As she thought about it, and was about to write down her thoughts on another piece of paper—
“Emeralda-sama!”
A visitor ran into the office nosily. It was an apprentice knight assigned from the Northern Continent.
“What’s wrong~~?”
The young apprentice knight looked pale and was breathing hard, his eyes filled with unease.
Before he opened his mouth, his expression already told others that this definitely wasn’t good news at all.
Vol 4 Chapter 1: Maou, at his wit’s end because he lost a place to live
The young girl’s soft silver hair shone beautifully like the Milky Way.
Floating in the Milky Way, her bright and majestic eyes which gave off a solemn atmosphere, would not lose to the
brightness of the sun and moon in space.
“So beautiful…..”
The mutterings of the man who seemed to have lost his soul disappeared into the air even before it could be heard
by others.
Focusing his sights onto other areas, the energetic movements of those limbs showed lively activities.
The naïve posture during that developing stage, or rather the start of the development stage, implying endless
possibilities, transcends the beauty of all the art pieces in the world.
Her legs, flexible and elegant like a Japanese Antelope, yet thin and graceful like a lily.
Her charming hands are light and beautiful, like an angel’s wings, but as nimble as a cheetah.
Most importantly, the expressions, with their dizzying beautiful changes, are more superior to all kaleidoscopes in
the world, much more ornate than any rose, more elegant than any peony, and as illusionary as the Sakura, cannot
be expressed even with thousands of songs and poems.
“Eh hehehehehe.”
Who could blame the man, who forgot about his surroundings due to his loss of common sense?
“Erhm…Maou-san.”
“Ah hahahahaha.”
After all, this man’s heart has been imprisoned the whole day.
“Maou-san, can you be a little softer……”
“Wah hahahahaha.”
Rather than the heart, it might even be his life that is being imprisoned.
“Maou-san!”
“Wah! Wha, what is it, Chi-chan?”
After being grabbed by the shoulder and shook hard, Maou Sadao, with a creepy smile on his face, finally came to his
senses.
Maou turned back, and realised that his junior at work who knew about his identity, and the only young girl in the
whole of Japan who he fully trusted, had her hands at her waist, puffing up her cheeks.
In the staff room at the MgRonalds branch in front of Hatagaya Station, a high school girl is currently admonishing
the Demon King who plans to take over the world.
“That laughter which even I honestly thought was rather gross can be heard even from the kitchen!”
“Oh, ah? Erhm, I’m sorry, it seems like I was too engrossed in the picture.”
Sasaki Chiho, with an unhappy face, looked at the slightly taller Maou, and when she saw Maou holding the free
photo album from the studio, she gave a troubled frown.
“Really… you’re looking at pictures of Alas=Ramus-chan again, aren’t you?”
“That’s right! Take a look at this!”
Once he heard Chiho mention the photos, Maou immediately forgot about what he was told only three seconds also
and passed the album over.
“…I see you have new photos again.”
On the photo which Maou handed over, it showed an energetic silver haired girl with her arms wide open while
running around what looked like a grass lawn.
“Heh heh, actually, this isn’t a picture. It was printed out after being extracted from a video, I think?”
“… …”
“Because that Emi doesn’t bring her over much, and since our side can only wait passively, it’s obvious that we will
feel anxious. This was taken when Alas=Ramus was brought to the exercise centre at Hatagaya. That time, we ran
the whole day, it was so tiring!”
“…That’s great.”
To Chiho, she can only answer in this manner.
“Hey, do you want one? New pictures of Alas=Ramus?”
“… Not at the moment. I have received a lot of them recently.”
Even if Chiho did have feelings for Maou, and liked Alas=Ramus a lot, she still rejected the photo presented to her
because she could not keep up with the excited Maou.
Maou had thought that Alas=Ramus had left, but Emi had brought her back. During the two weeks which had passed
since then, Maou’s attitude towards Alas=Ramus had progressed beyond normal levels of affection, and can be only
known as overprotectiveness.
In order to record everything about Alas=Ramus, Maou, who normally did not buy anything else besides the daily
necessities, actually bought old models of a digital camera and a photo printer. And from the way he spoilt the
young girl, it can be seen that he was suffering from a serious sickness.
As for the photos and videos taken by the digital camera, the duty of storing them fell to the Neet fallen angel
Urushihara, whose only possessions were the computer and his old reputation. Even though Maou could look
through the folders to heal his soul when Alas=Ramus was not around, but by buying these items which were not
considered necessities, it was obvious that it will cause Ashiya Shiro, the one in charge of the funds of the Demon
Fortress, some unhappiness.
The amount of money spent on ink and other consumables was no small amount. In addition, Urushihara would not
turn off the main power of the printer when he has finished using the computer, thus wasting the standby power.
This increased Ashiya’s stress levels, who aimed to incorporate frugalness as a policy in the demon world.
“Even though it’s fine since is break time now…… Kisaki-san is going to return soon, so can you pull yourself
together?”
“Don’t worry, I will switch my attitude properly!”
After being lectured by a high school girl for being too lax, the shift manager cum Demon King still replied with a
rather poor expression, totally lacking any persuasiveness or majestic feeling.
As the other half of Alas=Ramus ‘parents’—Maou’s enemy—Hero Yusa Emi, who only come over a few times every
month, Maou, who doted on the girl, resembled a father who had lost the custody after an agreed divorce.
Knowing about Maou’s original identity and purpose, before feeling fed up, Chiho was worried about many other
issues.
“Maou-san, you’re only focused on caring about Alas=Ramus-chan every single day after returning home, is that
alright? Since you are able to buy a digital camera and printer, it shows that you have some savings. However, I have
never heard about you having other jobs……”
After quickly saying this, Chiho left the staff room and looked towards the calendar hanging on the wall, and
mumbled to herself in an anxious tone:
“In addition, the store will be closed from tomorrow……”
?
Demon King Satan, Maou Sadao, who planned on conquering Ente Isla, and the savior of Ente Isla, Hero Emilia,
hiding her true identity with the fabricated identity – Yusa Emi.
With the young girl Alas=Ramus, who knows them as “Papa” and “Mama”, in the centre, the Demon King and the
Hero reluctantly challenged the unfamiliar experience of toddler life.
After directly opposing the archangel Gabriel who wanted to take Alas=Ramus away, and having many unexpected
things happen, the “parents” managed to gain a close victory.
Rather than terming it a victory, it was more like the battle was cut off because Gabriel was unable to accomplish his
goal due to the change in circumstances. However, Alas=Ramus was finally able to stay in the place she likes.
The problem though, is that Alas=Ramus actually merged with Emi’s ‘Evolving Holy Sword, Better Half’.
The Tree of Life supports the world, and Emi’s holy sword and Alas=Ramus originated from one of the fruits, in other
words, they are fragments of the “Yesod” Sephira.
Gabriel’s purpose is to obtain Alas=Ramus and the holy sword, and piece the fragments of ‘Yesod’ together to
recover the original form of the ‘Sephira’.
Even though Gabriel and the rest have ignored the fragments for an unimaginably long period of time, they have
suddenly started to frantically take action to recover the ‘Yesod’ Sephira.
Therefore, since Alas=Ramus had merged with the holy sword which could not be separated from Emi’s body,
Gabriel was unable to achieve his objective for now.
Because of this, Alas=Ramus was forced to move from the Demon Fortress—the 201 room of the sixty year old
apartment Villa Rosa situated in Sasakusa, Shibuya district, Tokyo to the apartment in Eifuku Town, Suginami district,
where Emi lived.
A problem surfaced then.
Alas=Ramus was extremely attached to her “Papa” Maou.
If the two of them met, it would not just be a problem on her education, it might even be a negative influence on
human history. Therefore, Emi, as the Hero, should have hardened her heart and prevent Alas=Ramus from meeting
the Demon King.
However, the troubling thing is, Alas=Ramus had become a holy sword with a human personality, and once she felt
lonely, she was start crying and fussing inside Emi’s head.
And the howls of a child had more destructive power than the roars of any beast.
When the young girl first merged with the holy sword, Emi was originally determined to disallow Alas=Ramus from
going to Maou’s place, but after a short three days, that determination had crumbled.
Even though Alas=Ramus had the form of the holy sword, she still had the mentality of a young girl, whether Emi
was working or sleeping, she would ignore the circumstances of her “Mama” and throw tantrums, shouting, “I want
to see Papa”.
In order to avoid tragic situation of experiencing the night cries which only she could hear, Emi could only head for
the Demon Fortress at a higher frequency compared to before.
Not only that, Emi also had to go through the difficult experience of raising a toddler, such as brushing teeth after
meals, and changing diapers, the things which had kept the inhabitants of the Demon Fortress busy, causing her to
be unable to suppress her weak spirit which made her do things in a sloppy manner.
Even though Alas=Ramus was very obedient, and would not throw big tantrums and cause trouble when she was
unhappy, even if she had merged with Emi, the physical and mental functions of a little girl would still follow her
own schedule. Discovering that Alas=Ramus’s diapers had swollen up upon materializing her once she returned
home was something which happened quite often.
However, even after all that, Emi is still unable to entrust the care of Alas=Ramus to the Demon Fortress. That’s
because even though Alas=Ramus is able to move independently in the form of a child, it cannot change the fact that
she is fused together with Emi.
Earlier, it was already confirmed that once Alas=Ramus and Emi were too far apart, Alas=Ramus would not be able
to maintain her form and will be forced to return inside Emi’s body.
The distance which could be maintained between Emi and the independently moving Alas=Ramus is roughly the
distance between two stations on the Keio line.
The only person who could understand Emi’s despair at that time, was the one who lived next to the Demon
Fortress, Inquisitor of the Doctrinal Correction Council belonging to the Ente Isla Church, Crestia Bell, also known as
Kamazuki Suzuno.
Just to mention, when Sasaki Chiho knew about this—
“Hm, then there’s no need to worry about her getting lost, isn’t that good?”
She expressed an opinion which felt like an arrow hitting a neighbouring target.
To Emi, the reality that she could have to frequently go to the Demon Fortress was an embarrassing thing for her. As
for Maou, he is in a very good mood because he is able to see Alas=Ramus frequently, so in order to maintain the
stability of her emotions, she could only convince herself that this would lessen the chances of the Demon King
doing anything evil.
Just like that, two weeks after Alas=Ramus and Emi starting living the life of going to the Demon Fortress, it was
already the height of summer, the end of July……
?
The manager of the MgRonalds branch in front of Hatagaya station, Kisaki Mayumi, would always proudly declare
that she would never tell jokes which people are unable to laugh at.
Even though Kisaki was given the scary nickname “Revenue Demon” by her colleagues, she always threats the
customers sincerely and is straightforward in her assessments of her subordinates.
Because Kisaki is such a straightforward person, Maou Sadao was unable to understand the meaning of what she
just said.
Kisaki would not tell jokes which are not funny, and she would not lie. That is why it was difficult to believe.
“Tomorrow, this store will close.”
4 o’ clock in the afternoon, considered the less hectic off peak period, including Maou and Chiho would were about
to end their shift, Kisaki announced this to all the staff in the afternoon shift.
At this moment, Maou felt that all the surrounding noise had disappeared.
To Maou, it was as if Kisaki, without any demonic magic or holy power, had used a time-freezing spell. The moment
felt so long it was like the birth of the universe, an infinite instant.
“Ma, Maou-san?”
“Wah!”
If not for Chiho softly talking to him and touching his hand, Maou would have headed towards the never-ending
edge of space time, never to return.
Maou, snapping out of the sci-fi like illusion, instantly organized the various pieces of information in his brain.
Compared to the other businesses in the same area, logically the shops in front of Hatagaya station are without a
doubt, well performing shops whose revenue exceeds the amount of the year before.
Even though the shop was small in scale, with their good service and sincere attitude, in addition to the meticulous
attention to hygiene, this shop will always be commended during the district competition held every 3 months.
This kind of shop in front of the Hatagaya station, is actually going to disappear?
It was difficult to believe.
However, it seems like the only shocked person is Maou, Chiho and the other employees did not seem especially
shaken.
In fact, it was Chiho who was looking back at the confused Maou with a worried look on her face.
“Even though we’ll be separated temporarily, I hope that everyone would not forget what you have learnt in this
store at your new workplace and work hard. That’s all I wanted to say.”
“Er, er, er, erhm, Kisaki-san?”
“Hm? Maa-kun, is there a problem?”
“Ra, rather than a problem, how should I say this……”
Maou was unable to properly straighten out his feelings. What should he ask about? No, before that, what did she
mean by a new workplace?
Why isn’t anyone shaken by the situation? Maou felt very bewildered by this.
“You said this store will disappear……”
Because of the single sentence Maou said after a lot of effort, Kisaki frowned.
“Didn’t I mention this to you two weeks ago?”
“Eh……”
Even though he was asked directly, Maou did not have any impression of it at all. Speaking of two weeks ago, it was
at the time when the dust had settled in the incident involving Alas=Ramus.
“Erhm…… perhaps… …”
Chiho whispered to Maou from behind.
“it was during the time when Maou-san thought that Alas=Ramus-chan was taken away…”
“Eh……”
Maou let out yet another airheaded sound, and kept trying to search for the events which occurred two weeks ago
at the bottom of his memories.
It was not long after Maou requested from Kisaki to increase the quantity of his shifts in order to raise Alas=Ramus,
Gabriel had suddenly appeared and caused a huge commotion.
Two days after that, Maou, who had thought that Alas=Ramus had been taken away, had definitely felt very
depressed. He consistently made mistakes which only new staff could have done, and those two days can be said to
be his worst performance since he started working at MgRonalds. Even Kisaki had started to worry about his
health……
“At…… at that time……”
“Don’t tell me… … you haven’t been listening at all?”
At that moment, Kisaki’s stern voice caused all the employees to tense up.
Because Kisaki is very fair when it comes to work and her feedback, she is very strict against carelessness and
arrogance.
“…… The rest of you shouldn’t have any issues regarding this, right?”
Besides Maou, everyone else moved in a coordinated fashion like a well trained army---
““““Yes!””””
And chorused.
“And that’s how things are, Maa-kun. Come with me to the office.”
Maou followed behind Kisaki, his face slightly blue.
With the atmosphere in the store feeling as if it has dropped to below zero degrees even though it’s the middle of
summer, Chiho and the other employees watched them go with white faces.
Kisaki let Maou stand next to the work table and started to work on the computer without saying anything.
Maou, who stood there blankly, could only continue staring at Kisaki’s back.
In the end, in the corner of the office, a printer whose model is even older than the one in the Demon Fortress
specially used to print Alas=Ramus’s pictures, finally made a sound and spit out printer paper.
After taking a piece of paper, Kisaki finally turned back and passed the paper to Maou.
“If all these cannot work out, then I won’t be able to help you anymore.”
“… … Er, erhm… …? This is?”
“This is the list of MgRonalds stores that would be able to take on shifts immediately.”
“The list of MgRonalds stores… … so that means, this store is really going to disappear?”
Maou asked, the blood draining from this face, Kisaki, on the other hand, supported her forehead against her fingers
and replied with a straight face,
“It seems that you really weren’t listening to anything… … I did notice that you replied with a vacant looking face, but
weren’t notices put up on the calendar as well as on the notice board inside the store? A customer notice was even
pasted on the main door, you really have been too careless recently. Basically, as long as you read the duty roster,
you would have noticed that something was wrong.”
Kisaki thought that Maou was too careless, this comment was right and wrong at the same time.
Ever since Alas=Ramus appeared, Maou started to take on more shifts compared to before. In order to continue
being the shift manager and obtain a stable income every day, his work hours have become fixed. Because of that,
Maou read the duty roster less and less often recently.
Even though Alas=Ramus is currently living at Emi’s house, but for Maou, who publicly declared that he would be
responsible for raising her, he is always on the lookout for opportunities to hand her money for taking care of
Alas=Ramus.
Even if he is unable to complete the task because Emi kept rejecting him determinedly, it can still be used as backup
funds in the worst situation, therefore Maou continued to work to the best of his ability until now.
While Maou recalled what he had been doing for the past two weeks, he shifted his attention onto the piece of
paper Kisaki passed to him.
“Our store is a one of a kind top grade store in West Shibuya, there’s no reason to close down. It’s just that the store
is being renovated to change the business model, and business will be suspended in the meantime. It will re-open in
mid-August, after the Obon Festival. After all, most of the companies here will disband for summer holidays during
this period as well.”
“Change the business model?”
This sentence got rid of half of the anxiousness Maou felt. Knowing that the business will not be closed permanently
brought him great relief.
Even though they were all known as MgRonalds, the stores can still be divided into several types of operations,
including large stores in the suburbs that have playgrounds attached to them, basic stores in the malls known as
“MiniRonalds” and “Driveway” types set up on the side of the roads.
This time, for the operations type of the store in front of Hatagaya station, other than the usual meals, a café menu
with strictly chosen ingredients will be set up, a side store known as “MdCafe”.
Because the products sold in MdCafe are more diverse and rich in ingredients and quality, their prices are also higher
compared to the normal menu.
Even though a lot of effort will be spent to make the interior of the main dining area more classy and comfortable,
the storefront also needs to be changed extensively. Before changing the operation type, a lot of time would need to
be spent on these areas.
For the interior, the lighting, ceiling, walls, floors and so on would be completely different compared to before. In
order to introduce the new menu, the kitchen would also need to be improved significantly.
“Eh, but…… with the size of our shop, would we be able to open a MdCafe?”
The uncertainty which had not dissipated from Maou’s mind was because of this.
Currently there was no independently operating MdCafe in Japan. Even if part of the original space of the store was
used to set up the MdCafe’s operations, within in the city, only stores with a larger store area would be able to set
up a MdCafe.
Even though the store in front of Hatagaya station is set up on the ground floor of an office building facing the
shopping district, it is still a small store which does not even have 50 seats.
Maou is worried that by setting up a MdCafe inside the existing MgRonalds, the customer seating area would
become less spacious, however, Kisaki just calmly looked up towards the ceiling.
“The second floor of this building will become part of our store.”
“Ehhh?”
“How do you think we would be able to implement such a plan in such a small store? The company on the second
floor decided to move out in July, so we just went with the flow and obtained the space. Because it happened so
suddenly, the development of the plan is also rather hurried, but the first floor will still be reserved for the original
store. The second floor will be used for the MdCafe, there will be 90 seats in total.”
Shouldn’t they try to shrink the scale of the first floor operations, and just renovate the second floor? Maou thought
this.
“It’s not possible considering the scale of the construction. The look of the store and the variety of the products, and
in the end, there’s also the corporate image. Wearing a wrinkly shirt and dirty suit in front of the customers, earning
their money even after they feel unhappy or dissatisfied, that is not good money at all.”
According to Kisaki, things like setting up the pipes used by both floors, and replacing the cashier system with the
new POS one. Both are temporary projects, but because an extensive makeover is going to be carried out soon,
performing business under these circumstances would only cause trouble for the customers, so it was decided to
halt operations during the renovation.
“During this period of time, the staff would temporarily be sent to the nearby stores as “assistance”…… if you have
realized this earlier, I would have introduced you to stores which are closer.”
Kisaki shrugged in a troubled manner.
On the list Kisaki passed to Maou were stores that needed temporary help, however they were either quite some
distance away from Shibuya, or were unable to provide a large number of shifts. Because it is the summer holidays,
every branch store had adequate manpower because of the employment of temporary student workers.
Even since Maou became the shift manager, Kisaki and him saw each other less often.
This is also one of the factors causing this tragedy.
“Because the suspension of operations is due to the company, so the employees’ jobs are still under protection. But
for the problem this time, you are also to blame for not confirming important matters. Even though I admire your
talent, and hope that you would be able to work in a better environment, this is the best I can do for you.”
Kisaki stood up and placed her hand on Maou’s shoulder.
“If you decide to go to these branch stores to assist, contact them before tomorrow evening.”
Maou felt that his surroundings have turned dark.
After shakily walking out of the staff room, Chiho approached him with a concerned look on her face.
“You really didn’t realize it at all?”
“Ah, yeah. Chi, Chi-chan will also assist other stores?”
“I’ll be taking a break until the renovation is finished… … but, I’m sorry!”
Chiho suddenly bowed, giving Maou a shock.
“I decreased my shifts a lot because of club activities… … Maou-san was busy taking care of Alas=Ramus-chan’s
affairs… … if I had mentioned this to you, you might have realized it.”
It seemed as if Chiho felt a strange feeling of guilt over Maou’s mistake, and looked at Maou with an expression like
she was going to cry.
“No no no, it’s not Chiho’s fault. As for being busy, Alas=Ramus is with Emi right now, so I’m to blame for being too
careless. Haha, right now I won’t be able to exaggeratedly say that I will switch my attitude.”
As Chiho was not at fault at all, Maou quickly shook his head and replied.
“Even though the conditions aren’t as good, it’s not as if I can’t work at all, I will discuss this with Ashiya after I go
back. Sorry for worrying you like this.”
“Maou-san……”
Maou suddenly remembered something, and asked Chiho a question to change the atmosphere,
“That’s right, Chi-chan. Would you be able to come to my house today?”
“Eh?”
Chiho was confused by the sudden invitation.
“In the morning, I heard Suzuno say that Emi would come over for dinner. You should come and see Alas=Ramus,
that child really wants to see Chi-chan. Even though Emi is alright with anything, food will be nicer when eaten with
more people, so……”
Maou patted Chiho’s shoulder gently.
“About this, I’m alright, so cheer up, okay?”
“Yea, yeah……”
Chiho nodded lightly with a slight blush on her face.
*
“Yo, I’m back.”
“Ex, excuse me.”
As Maou left the house early in the morning to work, he is home at 7pm. Even though the sky has not turned dark,
lights shone from the houses they passed on the way back because of dinner preparations.
“Papa!”
After returning to the rental apartment housing the Demon Fortress—the sixty year old “Villa Rosa Sasazuka”, the
one that greeted Maou and Chiho was the angelic smile of Alas=Ramus, enough to heal Maou’s tired mind and body,
a result from the mistake at work.
“It’s Chi-nee chan!”
Alas=Ramus, who ran towards Maou from the other side of the low table, ingeniously turned, changing her direction
midway to run into Chiho.
“Alas=Ramus-chan! Hello!”
Chiho gracefully scooped up Alas=Ramus, who had been running at full speed. As for Maou, maintaining the pose as
he prepared to catch Alas=Ramus, bowed his head dejectedly. Seeing this situation, Alas=Ramus’s “Mama” and the
main enemy of the Demon Fortress, Emi, who looked as if she had just got off work, said with a wry smile,
“Alas=Ramus made a right choice.”
“Noisy, shut up, how depressing. Hey, Alas=Ramus, I’m here too?”
“Chi-nee chan!”
Alas=Ramus did not acknowledge him.
“Welcome back, Demon King-sama. Please use this wet towel.”
Ashiya, who treated serving the Demon King as his duty, considerately took out a wet towel which had been warmed
in the microwave. Maou wiped off the sweat which resulted from the walk home and pressed his eyes to chase away
the fatigue.
“Ah---how comfortable!”
“Sasaki-san, welcome. Please take a seat.”
The considerate Ashiya also passed a wet towel to Chiho, and let Chiho, who was carrying Alas=Ramus sit at a corner
of the low table.
“I’m sorry for suddenly disturbing everyone like this.”
Chiho made eye contact with Ashiya and Emi in greeting.
“Even though I shouldn’t be the one saying this, but it’s alright. Alas=Ramus is happy as well.”
“If it’s Chiho-dono, I welcome you anytime. However--”
A stern sounding female voice came from the opposite direction from Ashiya.
The person placed Chiho’s chopsticks and bowl on the table, while glaring at the much taller Maou and Ashiya with a
displeased look on her face.
“About the action of taking out the wet towel like it was the most natural thing to do, I already have nothing much to
say. However, please don’t wipe your face and neck while moaning, think about your dignity as the Demon King.”
Wearing an apron and a triangular bandana, the female who gave Maou the warning was Kamazuki Suzuno. She is
the cleric from the Church of Ente Isla who lived next to the Demon Fortress. At the same time, she is also definitely
Maou’s enemy.
“Given the current circumstances, it’s not much use even if I act dignified in front of all of you.”
Maou, who replied Suzuno in an unmotivated manner, passed the wet towel back to Ashiya. Suzuno sighed and
returned to the kitchen, stirring the pot of miso soup.
“If you say that, Alas=Ramus will copy you, you know?”
Suzuno had barely finished when---
“Ah, you can’t, Alas=Ramus-chan, this is used to wipe your hands.”
Chiho’s frantic voice was heard. Upon closer inspection, Alas=Ramus actually took away the wet towel which Ashiya
passed to Chiho and started to wipe herself, copying Maou’s movements.
“Ah~~ how comfortable!”
“Alas=Ramus! Don’t copy that old man like behavior! And that belongs to Chiho onee-san, okay.”
Emi took the towel away from the happily imitating Alas=Ramus.
“Come, Alas=Ramus-chan, let me help you clean your hands.”
Chiho took the towel from Emi and gently helped Alas=Ramus, who was sitting on her lap, wipe her hands.
“Hmph.”
Suzuno showed a mocking smile which seemed to say “I told you so.” As for the unhappy looking Maou, he
awkwardly turned towards Ashiya to ask him a completely unrelated question, trying to avoid the topic.
“Ah, that, what about Urushihara?”
“He should still be on the computer. Because Bell does not allow him to use the computer in this room, so he should
be at the Demon Fortress?”
Ashiya’s face turned stony for a different reason from Maou.
“Of course. If that idiot is left alone, he would probably sit in front of the computer all day. Not caring about the
small things like electricity bills, that person is really an eye sore.”
Suzuno complained unhappily as she carried the plates.
That’s right, even though he returned to Villa Rosa Sasazuka, Maou was not that the 201 room, Demon Fortress.
He was at the neighbouring 202 room, which is the room of Kamazuki Suzuno.
During the battle with Gabriel, a hole so big that it was amazing that no one called the police, appeared in the
Demon Fortress.
Even if the Demon King and the rest bought a few tarpaulin sheets used to cover bicycles from the Hypermarket, and
blocked the hole using things they have gathered as an emergency fix, it cannot be left alone forever.
At their wits end, the group went to find the house contractor who was unable to help with the installing of the airconditioner,
but the other party replied simply, saying that he will try to contact the landlady Shiba, up till today,
that hole still exists.
Even though the electrical wires, gas and water pipes did not look damaged, but this is still an ancient 60 year old
building.
Perhaps the impact which caused the hole has resulted in hidden dangers in places they cannot see, and it was
difficult to know if a specific action will cause a second disaster.
As it would be even harder to clean up if another accident occurs, Maou and the great demons from a foreign world,
will disturb the cleric next door during meals and when large amounts of electricity needs to be used.
From this angle, Urushihara, who continues to use the computer, is the most unsettling factor to the Demon King
and Suzuno.
In a stroke of good luck, ever since the hole appeared in the Demon Fortress, it had not rained at all.
However, this could not go on forever. While thinking about confirming with the landlady about the situation, he sat
down next to Chiho.
“Papa!”
Alas=Ramus, who was sitting in Chiho’s lap, tried her best to stretch her small hands towards Maou.
Just seeing that smile was enough to chase away the fatigue and troubles which Maou accumulated the whole day.
“Okay, then, you can go to Papa… is that alright?”
Chiho realized that Maou had already reached the limit of his patience, and let Alas=Ramus sit on the lap of her
“Papa”. Of course she did not forget to check with Emi first, and Emi had reluctantly agreed.
Basically, Emi is also soft hearted towards Alas=Ramus.
Once Alas=Ramus sat on Maou’s lap, she grabbed the chopsticks in front of her with both hands and started to
randomly hit the table with them.
“Hey, Alas=Ramus, don’t do that. You should be more polite.”
“Uu~”
When Alas=Ramus was warned by Maou and Emi, even though she was reluctant, she would still listen obediently.
The young girl unhappily put the chopsticks back to their original position—even so, the positions of the chopsticks
were reversed—Maou smiled and patted her head.
“Great, good girl. Before Suzu-nee san brings the rice over, wait obediently, okay?”
“Yeah!”
“…… I don’t know why, but once I was referred to as ‘Suzu-nee san’ by you, I get goosebumps.”
Suzuno, wearing an apron while serving rice to everyone, stopped her movements and said this with a frown in a
volume loud enough for Maou to hear.
“Yes yes yes, I’m sorry about that.”
“Chi chi chi!”
Alas=Ramus imitated Maou’s tone of voice because she thought it was interesting. At this, Emi and Suzuno glared at
Maou once again.
Maou, who would become very honest when it came to matters concerning Alas=Ramus. quietly rearranged the
chopsticks back to their correct positions while thinking of his future plans.
Even though he needs to discuss about the household finances with Ashiya, whether he decides to go to the
branches which Kisaki referred him to or think of other solutions, Emi would know about this sooner or later,
however Maou thought that there was no need to intentionally reveal his weak point to the other party.
If he did it now, it was possible that Emi would happily tell Alas=Ramus, “Papa lost his job” or something similar. If
Alas=Ramus starts to see him as an unemployed person, then Maou would not be able to live on.
“Hey Alsiel. Tell Lucifer to come over, if not it would be very troublesome if he starts complaining later. Tell him that
if he doesn’t come immediately, he won’t get any dinner.”
When she was almost done with the dinner preparations, Suzuno said this while taking off her apron.
“… … Alright.”
Even though the demon Alsiel and the human Suzuno basically have a hostile relationship, as the two of them have
started cooking together more frequently, when it comes to household chores and matters concerning Urushihara,
the two of them seem to be able to understand each other.
Ashiya replied Suzuno with an expressionless tone, and after removing his apron and folding it beautifully, he
temporarily left the room.
“You even have to make dinner for that kind of guy, it must be hard on you.”
“The Demon King is paying for it anyway. In addition, compared to cooking a one person portion for every meal, I
can save a lot on groceries and it is also easier to think of what to cook.”
Suzuno replied while taking off her bandana. To such a reply, Emi said with a straight face,
“If you continue saying things like this, you would be slowly pulled over to their side, you have to be more
careful……”
“?”
Even though Suzuno did not understand, but she chose not to continue the topic and sat next to Emi, opposite
Maou, with her back straight.
“Papa. Is it ready yet? Is dinner ready yet?”
“Yeah, good girl, can you wait a while more? We’ll start dinner when everyone is here.”
“Lucifer, hurry up!”
It looks like Alas=Ramus knew very well who the culprit is.
Emi tried her best not to pay attention to Maou, and asked Suzuno while keeping an eye on Alas=Ramus,
“Then again, you still have quite a few pieces of large furniture here, how do you plan to deal with them?”
“Ah, because the situation is special this time, the apartment agent helped me by introducing a storage place with
no extra charge. I decided to send everything over tomorrow.”
“How about the things inside the fridge?”
“I finished everything in one go today.”
“Oh, that explains why the dinner today is so rich. You bought the fridge not that long ago, and you already decided
to get rid of the fridge?”
Following the conversation of the two people, Maou took another look at the dinner table.
On the table, there was a large plate of fried green vegetables with onions, tomatoes, tofu and miso soup with
seaweed. Besides that, there’s also karaage, fried meat patties, siew mai, tempura and salad.
For Suzuno, who placed great emphasis on the outer appearance of the dishes, a menu which looks like the entire
fridge was cleaned out was a rare occurrence.
Even with the help of an additional person Chiho, it might still be difficult to finish such a quantity.
Emi and Suzuno frowned because of Maou’s question.
“What are you talking about?”
“Actually talking like it doesn’t concern you. In fact, are you guys alright? Have you put all your furniture in order?”
“Eh? What do you mean?”
Maou asked in return, confused.
Emi and Suzuno looked at each other suspiciously. Immediately after, Maou felt something cold on his back.
“Wah! Cold!”
It wasn’t an illusion. Alas=Ramus, who had left Maou’s lap without him noticing, was hugging an ice cold bottle of
mineral water and pressing it to Maou’s back.
“Alas=Ramus-chan, it’ll be wet that way, can you pass me the bottle?”
“Nu uh, no!”
Chiho gently started to battle with Alas=Ramus, who was determined not to hand over the PET bottle, Suzuno
continued to speak,
“From tomorrow, all of you and I would need to leave the apartment temporarily.”
“Hey, Alas=Ramus, listen to Chi-nee san! Leave the apartment huh………………………………………… what, what did you
just say?”
Maou instantly became alert, but immediately lost all colour in his face, and looked towards Suzuno with a pale face.
“Leave, this apartment?”
“……Hey, Demon King, don’t tell me……”
Suzuno slowly took out a familiar looking envelope from the front of her kimono.
It was an envelope with a luxurious gold stitching, which felt like silk to the touch.
“After you went to see the apartment agent, this letter arrived! It’s a notification from the landlady.”
“Ah?”
Maou was so shocked that it felt like his jaw will hit the ground. Alas=Ramus almost dropped the PET bottle she was
holding because of his voice.
“Papa, don’t scare me! Seriously!”
However, not even Alas=Ramus’s voice can reach Maou now.
Maou seemed to have snatched the letter from Suzuno’s hands, and as he guarded against the photo, he slowly took
out the contents.
Knowing the landlady, it was rare to just have a notification on a piece of printed paper. It was densely packed with
words and looked like a contract.
“To the tenants at Villa Rosa.”
From the date, it was a notification from two weeks ago, it started with this sentence, and Maou, who continued
reading—
“Please, this isn’t real……”
This time, Maou really felt the world was spinning and fainted.
“Ma, Maou-san?”
“Hey, you’ll hit your head this way, it’s dangerous!”
“Papa?”
“What sound was that just now… … De, Demon King sama?”
“I’m hungry. Ah, Sasaki Chiho came as well. Wah! The spread today is really sumptuous.”
Ashiya, who had returned, saw that his master had fainted and rushed over frantically. As for Urushihara, he was
acting at his own pace the whole time.
“Alsiel, Papa fell asleep after seeing this.”
Alas=Ramus passed the paper she picked up to Ashiya.
“Thank you, Alas=Ramus. Hm? It’s addressed to Bell, it’s a notification from the landlady……”
Emi and Suzuno didn’t even have time to stop it—
“………… Fu.”
Ashiya, who skimmed through the contents, collapsed like he had stopped breathing.
“Hm? What’s wrong with Maou and Ashiya?”
Emi, Chiho and Suzuno looked towards Urushihara with cold gazes, who did not help at all and was late, and stuffed
his mouth with karaage without even saying “Itadakimasu.”
Suzuno took the document from Ashiya’s hands and opened it in front of Urushihara.
“Read this carefully, you walking bad debt.”
“Uh…… what, what’s up……Eh? To all tenants?”
Urushihara read through the article while chewing his food.
“Regarding the compensation for the residents for the temporary relocation in order to facilitate the renovation of
the apartment complex……residents temporarily relocating? What is this supposed to mean?”
This time, even Urushihara got a shock, and put down his chopsticks, continuing to read the document.
Simply put, the request which Maou raised to the apartment agent two weeks ago had reached the landlady.
As the hole in the 201 room was too big, if the hole was simply patched up, it would still raise fears about the
structural integrity of the building.
It was also partially because of the aging gas and water pipes as well as the electrical system, which causes people to
worry if any fault will occur, so it was decided that the entire building will undergo a thorough renovation.
“……Eh, but, I didn’t not hear about this at all……”
“I thought so. If Maou and Ashiya have become like this, it would be strange if you knew.”
“Bell will stay at my house until the renovation is done, do you guys have any plans?”
In response to the question from Suzuno and Emi, Urushihara could only helplessly shake his head, and looked
blankly at Emi.
“Even if I stayed in a big house large enough to house three generations, do you think I would readily invite all of you
to stay?”
“That’s true……”
It looks like even Urushihara had no plans to push his request.
Alas=Ramus, who did not understand what the adults were talking about, ignored Urushihara, who gave a sigh, and
shakily walked towards the two men lying on the floor.
“What’s wrong with Papa and Alsiel?”
“Uh, that, they should be asleep. Ne, ne, Alas=Ramus-chan, go wake them up.”
Chiho, being the only one present who knew about Maou’s situation at work and treated the situation as her own
problem, was shaken when she knew that Maou might also lose his place to live.
“Okay, Papa, Alsiel, get up, it’s time to eat.”
After being shaken by Alas=Ramus’s small hand, Maou and Alsiel woke up with vacant looks on their faces, like they
had just woken up from a vivid dream.
“…… It’s felt like I was daydreaming.”
“…… Me too. No…… it should be, called a nightmare.”
The Demon King and the Demon General, who did not run from reality even after losing to the Hero in the final
battle, actually chose to run away at this moment.
“Ah, that’s right, Ashiya.”
“Yes, what is it?”
Maou, blearly-eyed, said in a daze,
“It seems like I will lose my job starting from tomorrow, what do you think I should do.”
“““““……………………”””””
“Los ob?”
Alas=Ramus, learning to speak, repeated what Maou said in suffocating silence.
“Fu……!”
Ashiya let out another sigh which sounded like a balloon leaking air and lost consciousness at the same time.
“Wah--! Ashiya-san! The colour of Ashiya-san’s face!”
“Oi, this face colour is serious! Bell! Water! Get water, quickly!”
“Mama, mineral water!”
“Good Alas=Ramus! Lend this to me!”
“Uh, is this the analeptic? No, before that, should a heart massage be conducted first?”
“……What’s wrong with Ashiya?”
Only Maou did not realize how powerful the effect of the bomb that he had thrown was.
?
“…………”
“…………”
“…………”
There was only a slight wind coming in from a crack in the entire Demon Fortress, the three demons sat in a circle
around a small package and looked at each other with serious looks on their faces.
A package about the size of a letter envelope, sealed using layers of tape and raffia rope for unknown reasons, with
a messy scrawl of “Unsealing Banned” written on it.
“What are you guys doing, just open it quickly.”
Emi, who couldn’t take it anymore, chided the males who did not move at all.
“Given, given the situation now, even if we look at it, it would also……right.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s true……”
Emi, who did not have a lot of patience, pushed away the hesitating demons. After roughly grabbing the package,
she started tearing at it.
“Wahhhhhh! What are you doing!”
“You’re noisy! Stop delaying the troublesome things, open it already!”
“Yo, you! You’ll regret it later!”
“Noooo!”
Emi ignored the exaggerated reactions of the inhabitants of the Demon Fortress and opened the package—
“……Wha, what is this? A tape?”
After that she found a home video tape with any labels on it.
“You, you, it must be a cursed tape!”
Maou grabbed his head and shouted.
“The, there must be fear, fearsome footage inside!”
Ashiya plastered himself against the wall, his face blue.
“Just the photo has such destructive power, it’ll be unimaginable with a video!”
“…… What are you guys talking about…… then again, this is sent by the landlady, right? Why do you have to seal it so
tightly?”
“Thi, think about it, this is a tape sent by the landlady, isn’t it? You have seen her before, right?”
“So what? Stop saying these strange things and check the contents.”
Not long after Maou consulted the apartment agent, the Demon Fortress also received a package sent by the
landlady.
Compared to the luxurious envelopes normally sent by the landlady, Maou and the rest estimated that nothing
important would be contained in the package. As they were worried that it might contain mysterious local products
or something on par with “that photo”, they were already on their guard.
As Suzuno lectured Maou and the others, “What if there is an important notice inside’, they finally decided to open
the package.
However, there was no letter, instructions or label, just a fully black tape. The inhabitants of the Demon Fortress,
faced with “the incident of photos of the landlady in a swimsuit”, which caused heavy casualties, who could blame
them for not wanting to play the tape because of a bad feeling they had?
Basically, even if the landlady did send the tape over, there was no equipment within the Demon Fortress which can
play it.
In the end, they decided that it was more sensible to not watch it and seal it immediately and stuffed the tape into
the deepest part of the storage closet in the corner of the room, securely sealing it. However, to the inhabitants of
the Demon Fortress, this tape could be the last hope for changing their current situation.
But the mental trauma caused by ‘that photo’ still cast a terrifying shadow in the demons’ hearts.
“It can’t be helped, if so, we can only release ‘that photo’ and let the Hero see it for herself!”
“Ple, please don’t do that, Demon King-sama! ‘That photo’ is a taboo which the Demon King cannot awaken! Even
the gods cannot touch that absolute seal!”
“Shut up! If I can’t use it now, then when can I use it?!”
“Ahh! My, my memories, the memories of ‘that photo’ is eroding me! The world is doomed!”
“The Demon Fortress is going to collapse! Demon King-sama! Please stop!”
As an outsider, Emi totally ignored Maou and the others who became very worked up because of ‘that photo’ and
rested her gaze on Urushihara’s laptop.
“We should be able to watch the contents of the tape if we buy a cheap tape player.”
Even though it is now the golden time for DVD and BD, it is still possible to buy equipment which digitize information
from old media from home electronics hypermarts.
Of course, Maou, Ashiya and Urushihara knew about this. However, they thought that if it’s just to unseal that
ominous seal, there is really no need to intentionally do something equivalent to throwing money into a drain.
“Hey, Emi, it looks like there is no way to watch the tape right now, erhm, we can solve our problems on our own, so
forget about this tape!”
Just as Emi kicked away the continually pestering Maou with a stiff smile on her face—
“Emilia, it’s quite noisy over at your end, is the matter solved?”
Suzuno, who was carrying Alas=Ramus, walked over from next door to investigate the situation, Emi replied her with
a shake of her head.
Emi pointed to the panicked three demons with her thumb, shrugging, and after showing Suzuno the tape, she
briefly explained the situation.
After that—
“Erhm…… in this case……”
Chiho, who was standing beside Suzuno, said cautiously,
“I have a tape player at my place……why don’t we go to my house to watch?”
*
“I, I’m back, Mu……wah!”
“Oh my, oh my, welcome! Ah, you must be Maou-san!”
Chiho had only just opened the door at the entrance, before she was almost blown away by a sharp and clear voice.
Maou talked to this voice on the phone before. Chiho mama, which looked around 40 plus years old -- -- Sasaki Riho,
already put on her makeup and was dressed neatly to wait for Maou and the others.
“Ex, excuse me. I’m sorry for disturbing you at such a late hour.”
Even though Maou was sweating heavily due to nervousness, and he still bowed cautiously.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Yusa Emi.”
Emi, standing behind Maou, did not say much, and only briefly introduced herself.
“Uh……here is a small gift for you……Chiho-san has always been looking out for us……”
Maou, who stuttered out socially polite sentences which he was not used to, handed over the cake meant as a
meeting gift, which Ashiya wanted him to bring along, to Riho.
“Oh my, thank you so much, taking the trouble. Alright, please come in, it must be hard on you this time. Ah, let me
go make tea, please go to the living room first—Chiho, please guide the guests!”
Under the prompts of the mother, who was so excited that it felt like a theatre performance was going to start,
Chiho nodded with a stiff expression.
“Er, erhm, Maou-san, Yusa-san, please come this way.”
“Ex, excuse me.”
“Sorry for the trouble.”
Between Sasazuka station and Koshu Kaido, in a residential area in the opposite direction from the Demon Fortress,
was a normal looking standalone building. That is the Sasaki home.
In order to check the contents of the tape as soon as possible, there was no other choice in the current situation. But
no matter what, the inhabitants of the Demon Fortress have been looked after by the Sasaki family when it comes to
food related matters.
Ashiya frantically went out on Durandal II and finally managed to buy a high class cake. However, if they did
something impolite to Chiho’s family members, it might betray the trust which Chiho harbored, so Maou really
spared no effort.
In addition, Emi even followed them in order to watch him.
Logically, Ashiya should be the one to visit, but Emi was worried that if these two people left together, they might
secretly get rid of the tape.
As a group of people coming over at the same time would cause some inconvenience to the Sasaki family, so except
for Maou and Emi, the rest of them are staying at Villa Rosa to take care of Alas=Ramus and wait for good news from
Maou and the others.
Even though Emi always cursed the demon forces in a nonchalant manner, and did not care about their life or death,
for an unknown reason, she is actually sincerely helping Maou and the rest solve their problem.
“Mum…… is too excited.”
Once Chiho entered the living room, she lowered her head, sapped of energy.
The living room, cleaned until it was free of dust not only had a brand new table cloth on the table, there was even a
vase containing various types of flowers.
Perhaps it was because scented candles were burnt or air fresheners were used, there was a slight flower smell in
the living room.
Even the seat cushions were obviously changed into thick cushions which were not used on a normal basis, making
Chiho, the original resident, feel awkward. As for Maou and Emi, they only understood that they were very welcome.
“Er, erhm, I’m sorry, uh, please take a seat. Ah, Maou-san, the tape……”
After Chiho, who sounded like she ran out of energy, took the tape from Maou, she knelt down in front of the LCD
television on top of a television stand in the corner of the living room.
Maou and Emi looked at each other while sitting down nervously. Underneath them, the new seat cushion crackled.
“Come come come, I prepared some chilled red tea.”
Once again, Riho entered the room in high spirits. Maou and Emi cowered a little in shock, but Riho did not mind at
all, gracefully placing the chilled red tea, which gave off a slight frangrance, in front of Maou and the rest.
“Thank you…… this smells nice, isn’t this flower tea, is this rose hip tea?”
Emi asked this after taking a sip, Riho’s eyes shined at that moment.
“Expected of a member of society, so know a bit about this! Thank you so much for taking care of Chiho, I hear about
you from her a lot. Seriously, Chiho and my husband are the same, they don’t care about red tea at all.”
“Yea, yeah……”
“Mu, mum! It’s fine if you stop at that!”
After setting the tape and the television, Chiho, blushing, wanted to chase her mother out of the living room, but
Riho ignored this.
“Before chasing me away, you should quickly play that tape! Perhaps the contents will have something to do with
Maou-san’s family!”
After saying this, Riho sat down on the opposite side of Maou and Emi. Even though Chiho had explained the bare
minimum of the situation to Riho with regards to borrowing the tape player belonging to the Sasaki family, Maou
was worried that the landlady would say strange things, or that Chiho and Riho would be unable to maintain a
normal mindset after seeing the landlady.
“Seriously……! I’m sorry, Maou-san, can I play it now?”
“Ah, yeah, please do.”
At this point, Maou cannot just ask Riho to leave, so he could only watch Chiho press the Play button, full of worries.
Chiho awkwardly sat down next to her mother and turned her line of sight to the television monitor. A black screen
was displayed for a moment before a video was shown----
Blue skies, gold coloured land, and the pyramid on top of it. After one hundred people see this, those hundred
people will definitely reply that this background is at Egypt.
“Ah~~ ah~~ cough.”
The landlady’s voice sounded like she was testing the microphone. Maou subconsciously clenched his fists because
of the terror he felt.
“Erhm, Maou-san and Ashiya-san, it’s been a while. I, Shiba, am going to explain things in front of the Giza Pyramids
in Egypt.”
The landlady was standing in the middle of a sunny desert.
She was wearing a figure fitting dress which looked like it was about to burst at the seams, while showing her legs,
with a dress hat which was useless at blocking out the sun. Just seeing the revealed limbs of Shiba Miki was enough
to make Maou blue in the face, and cause his heart to beat faster.
Even so, the destructive power this time is a lot less compared to the swimsuit photo, and he could still keep his eyes
on the screen, though barely. It seems like Maou did improve with regards to this.
What is even more surprising is that compared to Maou, who was sweating in nervousness, the other three people
did not have any special reaction, and nonchalantly watched the life threatening video of the landlady.
“I was contacted during my holiday, I never expected that Maou-san and the others will encounter such a tragedy, I
feel very sorry as the landlady.”
Even though the landlady did not have to take responsibility for the hole appearing in the room, but because of the
full cleavage that she showed when she bowed deeply, Maou strongly felt that she should apologise for the curse
burnt into his soul.
“Luckily, Maou-san and Ashiya-san were not injured. With regards to the apartment renovation, I will take
responsibility as the landlady, please do not worry. The rent will not be affected as the same time as well. Due to the
renovation dates and the amount of work, the thorough renovation may need to be done, so I’m afraid that
everyone would need to move out for a while……”
The landlady explained this professionally, and the contents were the same as the notification letter which Suzuno
had received.
Rather than that, it was harder to explain why the landlady would use such a troublesome method to notify the
Demon Fortress. If she used a letter notification like the one she sent to Suzuno, Maou and the rest would find out
about this a lot earlier.
Just as Maou was finally getting used to this shocking footage, and felt unsatisfied inside his heart-----
“In addition, there is another matter which I would like to trouble Maou-san and Ashiya-san.”
After talking about the renovation period of the apartment, the landlady continued to speak.
“Actually, I have a niece.”
Maou and Emi looked at each other in reflex.
The landlady’s…niece? The two of them never thought that this landlady will have parents, siblings, nephews or
nieces, or other normal family members, so they were quite shocked when they heard this.
“This niece is currently operating a beach house at a beach in Chiba.”
Talking about the landlady and beaches, Maou remembered that “Swimsuit photo incident”. Just as Maou though
that this tape will finally show its fangs and wanted to press the stop button on the tape player------
“If it’s convenient for you, can all of you go to my niece’s store to help out?”
He stopped in his tracks because of this sentence.
“That store is situated at a beach in southeast Chiba. Taking to account the location and the renovation of the
apartment, accommodation will most likely be provided, so there’s no need to commute. As my niece’s family have
other things to handle, so this will probably last from the beginning of August until after the Obon holiday, what do
you think about it?”
From the beginning of August until after the Obon holiday, and the job even provides accommodation?
For a job like this to suddenly appear at this time, could it be a joke? It is something which would push them to the
depths after making them happy, or a kind of prank segment?
“Southeast of Chiba…… is it Choshi?”
Chiho mumbled to herself softly, like she wanted to confirm her memory.
“If there are guys around, it would be more assuring in case something sudden occurs. Of course, you have your own
job to handle, so I will not force you on this. However if it is convenient, please think about it. If you’re willing to take
this job, please call this number……”
The landlady pointed at the bottom of the video, and took the effort to type subtitles which that looks like a phone
number. Maou stared blankly at the numbers on the video for a long time----
“Ma…… Maou, isn’t that great? Make the call quickly!”
(T/N: Emi was about to say Maou as in Demon King, but switched to Maou, his Japanese last name.)
After that he was slapped very hard on the back by someone, causing him to cough very hard.
“Cou, cough! E, Emi, what are you doing?”
“This tape was sent over quite some time ago, right? Make the call quickly. If this job is taken by someone else, you’ll
end up losing out!”
“Eh, bu, but Yusa-san, since it’s a beach house in Chiba, that means it’s really far away from here……”
Chiho, who was shocked by Emi’s reaction, did not even finish her sentence before she was interrupted by her
mother beside her,
“That’s right, Maou-san! Isn’t that great? In this way, you can solve the issues with your accommodation and job! It’s
fine if you make the call here, make the call quickly!”
As an older person, it was expected for Riho to react that way. On the other hand, for Emi to feel happy about
Maou’s situation getting better, it was really strange.
Even though Maou felt apprehensive about the development of the situation and Emi’s attitude, but he still entered
the numbers on the screen into his mobile phone and raised a hand to ask the surrounding people to be quiet.
As he was still making a call in someone else’s home, Maou first acknowledged Riho with his eyes, and pressed the
‘Call’ button after taking a deep breath.
Maou did not feel optimistic about the situation like Emi and Riho. After all, this timing is too coincidental.
Basically, this is a beach house run by a relative of “that landlady”. Maou did not know what kind of demon lair that
place would be, and did not know what kind of destiny awaits him. If he had worked in a MgRonalds further away, it
might not be as stressful on his mental state.
Chiho, who watched Maou with worry, seemed to think that Emi’s reaction is strange and took occasional glances to
check on her.
Maou waited for the other party to pick up, his face full of nervousness, after a few rings------
“Hello?”
A simple answer was heard from the other end of the line, it was a female voice.
As it is a niece, this result is to be expected, but for Maou, who was fully prepared as he was worried that a Youkai
would appear, he was a little shocked by the normal human voice.
“He, hello. I’m sorry, calling at such a late time.”
“Yeah.”
“Erhm, Shiba-san introduced me to a job with regards to a beach house, and wanted me to call……”
Maou had just said tis when the other party said with such a loud volume that Maou wanted to pull the phone away
from his ear,
“Shiba-san……. ah! Are you the tenant from the Tokyo apartment of Aunt Mi-chan?”
“Mi-chan…… ah, that’s right. My name is Maou.”
Thinking back, the landlady did ask other people to address her as Mi-chan before. Emi remembered that she was
asked to do so before.
“That’s right, that’s right, I heard about it! Because I didn’t receive any contact and July is going to end soon, so I
thought it was inconvenient for you, and was about to give up!”
The female voice on the other end of the line gave others a cheerful impression.
From the tone of her voice, the other party should be older than Emi or Suzuno, but did not have the unreadable
mysterious aura like the landlady.
“Erhm, that’s because something went wrong with the commuications……”
Even if his mouth is cracked open, Maou could not say that the tape was sealed until today because he was afraid of
watching it.
“Ah! I can understand! Aunt frequently travels overseas after all. Even the new year card will only arrive in
February.”
“I, I see.”
For it to be this way even for relatives, by comparison, the fact that the notification can reach Maou and Suzuno so
quickly is a miracle.
Just as Maou was thinking about this, the other party suddenly threw out a topic.
“So, you’re Maou-san right? Can you come over?”
The other party seems like a hasty type. Maou, who almost answered out of reflex, quickly stopped himself.
A beach house run by one person, this type of workplace is an unknown world to Maou.
If he did not confirm the scope and conditions of the job, he cannot decide if he can take up this task. Even though
the other party is the landlady’s niece, Maou did not even know her name.
“Know one’s strength and the enemy to secure victory”, this was the philosophy Maou believed in when he first
aimed to unify the demon world.
“I’m sorry, currently I only heard that it is a ‘beach house in Chiba’……”
Maou chose his words carefully, leading the other party to mention the conditions, the other end of the line nodded
and answered,
“Ah! Aunt is rather lax in this area after all.”
The landlady’s niece continued to speak with a voice which did not sound that delicate,
“The location is at the corner of Choshi, Chiba…… do you know where Kimigahama is?”
“No……”
At this time, Riho passed a notepad and a pen to Maou. Maou thanked her with his eyes, and accepted the pen.
Maou quickly wrote the words “Choshi” on the paper. Seeing this, Chiho sucked in a breath.
“That’s true. As a location, Cape Inubo or Toyama would be more well-known. Excluding the outlying islands and the
mountains, Kimigahama is the coast in Kanto which you can see the earliest sunrise.”
“Uh…..”
No matter what, these are names which Maou were not familiar with. The other party seemed to sense this from
Maou’s tone of voice.
“Sigh, you can just treat it as the east of Chiba. Even though it’s quite some distance from the city center.”
The topic of the workplace location ended without any detailed explainations.
However, it was no use even if he felt dissatisfied, so Maou could only note down the name of the place he didn’t
know about and continued to listen.
“In addition, this is hard to say, but the salary here isn’t high. A hourly pay for one person is only about 1000 yen.”
“1000 yen per person?”
Maou was a little shocked because of the unexpected amount. However, since it’s an hourly pay per person, this
means that more than one person is allowed to go.
As long as Maou and Ashiya worked together, they would be able to earn two hours of income for the whole Demon
Fortress in one hour.
“Oh my, because this store is opened partly because of my father’s interest, so it wasn’t meant to make a profit. In
addition, it’s really busy during this period, so I’m really troubled about it. Also, there is also free accommodation
and food, and from the end of work till the day turns dark, you can swim until you’re satisfied!”
A job with an hourly pay of 1000 yen, and comes with accommodation and food. Even though swimming is good, but
for Maou right now, these are ideal conditions.
“May I know how many people can go over?”
In some sense, this question is considered a gamble. Right now, there are not two, but three inhabitants in the
Demon Fortress.
And the third person is Urushihara, a Neet to the core.
From the way the landlady put it, it seems like it was decided beforehand that Ashiya, who is living together with
Maou, will go along as well. However, if it is now three people, the staff costs might cause a burden to the shop
which ‘wasn’t meant to make a profit’.
Moreover, even if he proposed his choice of people, it was hard to guarantee that the third person will work
seriously.
But the answer of the other party was something Maou did not expect.
“What is it, can you find more people to come?”
“Eh? Erhm, that, that is, including me and my roommates, there are three guys.”
“Eh? Three people?”
“Eh? Three people?”
Chiho and Emi exclaimed in surprise at the same time, but Maou ignored them.
“Not much will be earned regardless of the number of people, you can all come over! Because it’s seems to be very
tiring in various aspects, it’s alright to work in shifts.”
From this sentence, it seems like the other party had seen through the situation on this end.
Even though he didn’t know what kind of job it is, but it should be alright to let Urushihara take charge of the short
and easy portion. After that, everything will be fine as long as Maou and Ashiya worked their best till the end. If
Urushihara can develop a slight motivation in working because of this, it can be seen as an unexpected benefit.
“…… Can I trouble you by having three people come over together?”
After Maou said this, laughter was heard from the other end of the line. Chiho, on the other side of the table,
showed signs of nervousness at this.
“Yeah. So, when can all of you come over?”
“As there are some things we have to settle tomorrow, so I am planning to come over on the day after tomorrow,
August 1st.”
“Wah, then I have to quickly prepare the rooms. However, it is better if you can come earlier. According to my father,
the number of people will officially increase from August, really, thank you so much!”
From the beginning, Maou felt concerned, with things such as “seems to be” very tiring, or “according to my father”,
the number of people will increase from August. For some reason, these explanations felt as if it was heard from
someone else.
After asking about this-----
“Oh my, I think I mentioned this earlier, this store was originally managed by my father, even though I helped out
before, this summer holiday he suddenly said he wanted to travel, and pushed everything to me. Formally, I’m
supposed to take over, but I also have my own work, as a girl, it’s hard for me to handle this alone. As my father
never intended to make a profit, he did not teach me how to run a business. In the end, I’m still a young and
energetic girl, so there are risks in that aspect.”
To be specific, until what age would it be appropriate to be known as young and energetic, what kind of risks are
there, would it be fine to conduct business like this etc, Maou forcefully swallowed these questions.
About this, since it is someone Aunt Mi-chan introduced, then I can rest easy. I’ll leave it to you guys then.”
“It’s, it’s fine…… then again, how should we go over?”
“Ah, I need to tell you the location. Are you driving? Or taking the train? Or taking the plane?”
“Pla, plane? Uh, we will take the train.”
No matter where they are going, the mode of transport for Maou and the others is limited to mass transport.
“The journey is rather long, you know? If you depart from the city center, you can first take the Sobu line to the
terminal station to Chiba, then take the JR’s Sobu Main line to the terminal station, that would be Choshi. After that,
take the Choshi Electric Railway, and get off at the station before the terminal station, Inubo station. Even though
you will pass through the station called Kimigahama, our shop is closer to Inubo. It takes about three hours to get
here from the city centre, but all of you can treat it as a holiday trip.”
Not only does Maou have to take three lines which he is not familiar with, he still has to get off at two terminal
stations. Looks like it is further than he had thought.
Partly because of economic reasons, ever since Maou and Ashiya drifted to Japan, the two of them had never left
the 23rd District of Tokyo. Even though this is the first time they will head to other provinces, like what the other
party said, this long journey feels like it will become a holiday trip.
Even the Demon King, who had travelled the whole world to conquer it, will feel that a three hour long journey is a
little far.
“After you reach Inubo, I will drive there to pick you guys up. Call me when you arrive……”
“I understand. Uh, so, it’s a bit late asking this now, may I know your name as well as the name of your store……”
Even though this isn’t something which is asked after everything is settled, it needs to be known.
Maou, who asked this gingerly, almost pulled the phone away from his ear because of the loud laugh from the other
party.
“Ahahaha, I’m sorry, that’s right. Why haven’t I told you my name?”
This is something that we should be asking.
“I’m sorry, only introducing myself so late, I am Aunt Mi-chan’s niece, Ooguro Amane.”
“Amane-san huh….. I got it. So for the day after tomorrow, when would it be convenient for us to come over…...”
For working, this question is to be expected, but Ooguro Amane’s reply exceeded all of Maou’s experiences.
“Hm, you can come over anytime.”
“Eh?”
“Just choose a time which is convenient for you, I’ll pick all of you up at any time.”
“I, I see…… then is there anything related to the job which we would need to have?”
“Stamina?”
The answer of the other party is very simple. But what Maou wanted to ask wasn’t about this.
“Uh, you should just need to bring your clothes, towels and toothbrushes? For the other things which you lack, you
can just replenish them here.”
It’s not as if they were going to a relative’s house to play. Isn’t there anything that needs to be used during work?
“That’s right, you need to bring beach sandals. You can’t bring flip flops, it needs to be those where they are straps
around the ankle. If not, it will be easy to trip on the sand, or get washed away by the waves. If you work barefoot,
you may cut your feet on the rubbish, pebbles or shells under the sand, so that’s not allowed.
“Beach sandals. I understand. I will buy shoes that fit.”
That’s right, that’s what I wanted to ask. But this serious topic of things to take note with regards to work ended
quickly.
“Not only beach sandals, since it’s a rare chance to be here, you might as well bring your swimsuit and goggles. If you
want to play with fireworks, we have many different and good varieties! Even though you can’t play with the ones
which fly upwards, but playing with the sparklers (Note: A type of gunpowder wrapped in paper, which would give
off sparkling fireworks after lighting) amongst the sea wind is like a fight to the death, very exciting!”
“…… Is that so.”
It looks like it would be better to treat it with a totally different thinking from working in the city. Halfway through
the conversation, the topic has completely changed to leisure and play.
Or is it only Ooguro-ya who acts like this? (Note: As only Samurai were given last names in the Edo era, most people
would have the habit of using the founder’s given name or location name as the business or dealer name).
“Ah, but there is something I need to mention first.”
“Yes, what is it?”
Ooguro Amane’s tone of voice suddenly became more serious. Following suit, Maou also reigned in his expressions,
and waited for the other party to continue.
“Because this is not a fashionable place, so even though there are tourists, they are mostly adults. It’s a rather dull
place which does not bring much motivation.”
“Alright.”
“In addition, there are many things to handle in this job, I did say that you can swim all you want, but in reality, you
can only play at the beach in the mornings and later in the evenings. Therefore……”
After pausing for a while, Amane spoke with a tone of voice like she was going to announce something important,
“Don’t expect to have a beautiful encounter with a swimsuit wearing young lady! Basically, dating is something
which will cause trouble to others, so dating is not allowed!”
“What have you been saying since just now!”
“Eh? Aren’t these things important to guys?”
“There’s nothing like that! Then again, aren’t we supposed to go there to work?”
From this series of conversations, it’s expected for Maou to have this question.
“Ah, I get it, Maou-san already has a partner?”
“Not at all!!!!”
Maou said this at a louder volume than what he was using so far, and from the corner of his eye, saw Chiho, Emi and
Riho widened their eyes in surprise as they did not know what was going on.
Normally, calls which talk about work issues should be more tension filled and filled with work related elements. Of
course, if it was a workplace which is laborious, impersonal and only earns money, it will be very troubling, but not
feeling any tension is also an issue.
Because of Kisaki’s personal values, the work at the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya station is not especially
strenuous, but there will be still unique standards of operations, work etiquette and unwritten rules present at many
large scale chain stores.
For Maou, who had worked under such an environment, the feeling which Ooguro-ya gave off totally exceeded his
predictions.
Just as Maou was gasping for air, the other party seemed to be thinking about something.
“If you’re a hardcore Herbivore male (Note: Refers to the group of guys who have little or no interest in the opposite
gender and only focueses on one’s own hobbies), then I can rest easy. But it feels a little off. From what I heard from
Aunt Mi-chan, I thought it would be a more bold and generous group of people.”
Exactly how did the landlady describe Maou and Ashiya, and what kind of impressions did Amane imagine from that?
Maou was confident that it was not possible to be able to find someone else like him, a hardworking, honest, upright
Demon who is living seriously while conquering the world and working, in the past as well as the future.
He has work perform well as work in other to clear the various misunderstandings which arose from this phone call.
“In short, on the day after tomorrow, I will come here as early as possible!”
“Understood, I’ll wait for you guys.”
He didn’t do anything special, but after this conversation which lacked any feelings of tension, Maou still felt
strangely tired.
“What were you guys talking about?”
Emi was the first one to raise a difficult question. For those people who were listening from the side, it wasn’t a
normal interview discussing about work.
“I’m not too sure myself.”
Right now, even for Maou himself, he could only answer that it was an unfamiliar job, working under an unfamiliar
person, in an unfamiliar place.
“So, how did things go? Is everything alright work-wise?”
Riho asked with a shake of the ice filled glass. Maou kept his mobile phone and bowed deeply.
“Thank you for lending us the tape player. Thanks to you, we finally do not have to drift into the streets. From the
day after tomorrow, we will work at the beach house in Chiba.”
“Oh, that’s really great.”
Riho nodded with a smile.
Chiho looked like she breathed a sigh of relief, but still, she suddenly remembered something and asked,
“Three people, does that include Urushihara-san? Would that be alright? Is he able to go out, or talk to people
normally?”
Expectedly, Chiho had thought of the same questions as Maou, and from the look of unease on her face, she seemed
to have decided that Urushihara would give the other party a bad impression.
“What is it? Is Urushihara-san the type of person who would stay at home?”
Riho, who was not in the loop, deciphered the uneasy atmosphere around Chiho and asked this at the same time.
“I’m sorry, letting you hear about such an embarrassing thing…... but the other person and I would do our best to
cover for him.”
And Maou just admitted it without any reservations.
“Hm……”
Riho, who looked like she didn’t mind that much, nodded while glancing at her daughter’s face from the side. And
Chiho was currently looking at Maou with wistful expression on her face.
“Ah, thank you for your notepad and pen.”
Maou returned the stationery for taking notes back to Riho. As for Emi, she spoke to Maou while looking at the
notes he wrote,
“I hoped you learnt your lesson. Next time when the landlady sends other things over, you have to open it properly.”
“Uh……yeah, that is, I will deal with it appropriately.”
Maou thought that because Emi could only say those things because she had never seen ‘that photo’. However, the
fact that the landlady had saved him is also the truth. Just on this point, he must thank her properly.
Just as the group of people realized that the tape was still playing and turned towards the screen with the intention
to switch it off, at this point of time------
“Oh yes, I had the chance to learn belly dancing in Egypt.”
The landlady who seemed to be talking about random topics until now, said this on the video.
When the group was not noticing, the background behind the landlady had changed from the pyramids in the desert
to a place which looks like a luxurious palace ballroom.
“A member of a tribe who made music and dance their profession decided that I am a first rate dancer. After this, I
will take part in a major dance event being held here. Everyone, please watch my dance.”
“Oh my, such beautiful clothes.”
From Maou’s point of view, Riho’s opinion is too abnormal.
The landlady, being shown on the screen, had already changed into a blouse which revealed her shoulders. On top of
her abdomen where her waist cannot be identified, it was decorated with countless numbers of dazzling gems and
coins and with her fluttering bright red skirt made of chiffon and satin, she had instantly turned into a giant flower
monster.
Maou’s movements can only be described as lightning speed.
I can’t allow this tape to continue playing. If it continues, it will only cause misfortune to others!
However, as Maou’s fingers touched the stop button on the tape player, accompanied by oriental style music , the
video started to mercilessly show the landlady’s shaking arms, abdomen, neck and various places on her whole body.
Starting to shake her waist and bottom, she performed the eastern secret dance which once sucked the whole of
Europe into a whirlpool of senses ------ the scene of “Belly Dancing”.
After that, Maou lost all his memories from now until the morning of the next day.
*
“Seriously…… mum, you’re too excited.”
After seeing off Maou and Emi, as well as Ashiya, who came to pick up the unconscious Maou, Chiho started to
complain to her mother after closing the main door on the porch.
Even though she could understand her mother’s feelings, but if she welcomed the guests with such passion, it would
be awkward for the child when they meet their friends later on.
“Oh my, does it matter. Even though I know that Maou-san is very serious when he works, if I don’t know what kind
of person he is, it will difficult for me to make a judgment.”
This sentence which her mother said while clearing the tableware in the living room caused Chiho to widen her eyes
in surprise.
“You said you know…… Mum. Did you go to the store?”
“Why are you so surprised? Isn’t that to be expected?”
“I told you before that it will be troubling for me and you should not go……”
“So I exercised self-control and didn’t greet anyone. However……”
Riho glanced at the notepad which Maou used.
“He’s a good person. Maou-san.”
“Eh?”
“Yeah, if he’s that kind of person, it’s fine if Chiho likes him.”
“Mum!”
In a rare occurrence, Chiho said this in an agitated manner, but Riho turned a deaf ear to this.
“He’s diligent and polite, for a guy, his handwriting can be considered to be rather beautiful. He does not give off a
flippant feeling, and does not have any cigarette smell on him. And from the fact that he uses such an old mobile
phone, he should be very thrifty on his daily life, right? Is the person who came to get him Ashiya-san? In this day
and age, it’s rare to see a simple and unadorned guy like him.”
For Ashiya’s situation, rather than saying that he’s simple and unadorned, it would be more accurate to say that he is
poor.
“Your father used to be a poor student who lived a hard life, I guess this is hereditary?”
Ignoring the fact if the liking of certain types of guys can be inherited, but for the daughter who is being counselled
by her own parents, it was really an uncomfortable feeling.
“Currently, it’s difficult to find such an honest person like him. You shouldn’t have anything to worry about, right?”
“Wo, worry?”
Chiho looked at her mother’s eyes in surprise.
“Do you think you can deceive your mother’s eyes? For example, knowing that Maou-san working place is in Chiba,
or when talking about Urushihara-san, you were frowning so badly.”
Chiho blushed subconsciously, and belatedly used her hand to cover her forehead.
“That’s, that’s because……”
With her right hand covering her forehead, and left hand grabbing the hem of her skirt, Chiho said bashfully,
“How should I put it, even though Maou-san and Ashiya-san are down to earth and capable people, but Urushiharasan
is a lazy bum who is sloppy in various areas and does not take things seriously. Every day, he only surfs the
internet. I’m worried that Maou-san would end up causing harm to his body because he is covering for Urushiharasan
in an unfamiliar place, or that Urushihara-san’s attitude would cause them to get fired and so on. If so, not being
able to stay in Sasazuka…… is very possible……”
After fluently saying various criticisms about Urushihara, Chiho suddenly fell silient.
In the past, Chiho had thought that even if Maou and the others did not have a job, in the most serious case, their
food and living conditions will become worse, but she finally realised that the situation is not that simple.
The rent in Sasazuka is very high because of the land price. If Maou and the others lost just half a month of income,
it is possible that they would have to leave.
In this case, Emi and Suzuno, who chased after them, would definitely do the same.
It wouldn’t be that bad if it was just like that. In the worst case, if Maou and the rest returned to Ente Isla because
they have nowhere else to go, perhaps the Hero and the Demon King would have to “settle things with each other”.
“…… I do not wish, for things to turn out like that.”
“Chiho?”