“I’m not sure how much awareness of the situation that Maou-san has, but Sariel san did say that he ‘knows the
location of both Yusa-san and the holy sword.’ This means that the person who is after Yusa-san already has a grasp
of where you are going to go. If Gabriel-san takes action when Maou-san is in Choshi…..”
Even though Emi took down Gabriel in a one-on-one battle, no one can be sure that he is still going to challenge her
alone again.
What Chiho said and all the things that she has seen are true.
Even if they are the Hero and the Demon King, but whether it is Emi or Maou, they were unable to settle the
troubles they had in Japan with their own power.
On the contrary, because they were too confident with their own strength, when they were not aware, they actually
dragged Chiho and Rika, for starters, and other Japanese citizens into trouble even more times.
“…..Chiho-dono, you are a very smart lady.”
Suzuno said softly in admiration.
“No matter what kind of situation it would become, Emilia’s final goal is the settle things with the Demon King once
and for all. And regardless of which side disappears in Japan, this goal may become unattainable. For this important
goal, do not lose sight of who is the real enemy right now…Chiho-dono, is this what you mean?”
Chiho nodded slightly.
Last time, Suzuno also wrongly judged who the real enemy was and she stood at the position of needing to eliminate
the peaceful individuals who were in the way. She was deeply disgusted by the methods of elimination and was
suffering mentally, the whole time screaming to herself “who exactly is the real enemy here.”
Now the enemy that Suzno and Emilia need to defeat is the Demon King, yet at the same, it is not the Demon King.
It was someone who is hidden in the human world under the guise of the servant of justice.
Not only does the other party possess greater power than the Hero or the Demon King, he also has a following that
does not extend their hands to help the human world in times of crisis.
“I hope that everyone can get along harmoniously, this is a personal stubborn request from someone who does not
understand Ente Isla….But, not that Alas=Ramus chan is around, Alas=Ramus=chan who everyone really really loves
with all their heart, I really not want anything that would make her sad to happen.”
“The senbei is really nice, ne?”
Alas=Ramus’s innocent reply made Chiho smile a bit.
“Chiho.”
“Yes…Uwah!”
Emi hugged Chiho gently.
“No wonder your mother trusts you so much. You were born in such a peaceful country, how did you ever develop
such strong determination.”
As though letting Chiho be less worried, Emi lightly patted her back.
“Alright. We will go according to what you want. After all, I treasure this child a lot as well.”
After releasing Chiho, Emi put her hand on Alas=Ramus’ss head who was right next to her feet.
“But there is one point that I hope you will not misunderstand. I do not have any intention of harmoniously getting
along with the Demon King or being with him or being close to him.”
Emi pointed forcefully at Maou who was perspiring while making a phone call outside.
“I promise you, if there really comes to a situation where I have ab------solutely no way of handling myself, and I am
very sure that I cannot come up with any plan, let’s not talk about asking that bastard for help, I will completely
make use of him. And after making use of him, I’ll get rid of him on garbage recycling day.”
Emi made that announcement dramatically and this made Chiho lower her head while smiling broadly. Chiho said:
“Sorry and thank you.”
“Anyway, while we are at Inubo for three days and two nights to observe the situation, we might as well relax a bit.”
“That’s right. Since we took the trouble to come here, if we continue to observe the demons’ painfully ordinary life,
it’s far too boring.”
Suzuno smiled bitterly and this broke the nervous tension that was present.
At that moment, Maou just happened to return from outside the station and gave a big sigh due to the large
difference in temperature between the inside and outside of the station.
Maou who had no idea about the deep discussion between the girls ----
“AH! What good stuff are you eating!”
Once he saw Ashiya and Urushihara eating ice-cream, he loudly accused the two of them.
“Nure-senbei ice cream. It’s pretty delicious.”
“Because we’re terribly curious about the taste so we couldn’t resist….Demon King-sama, do you want some?”
Just as one was thinking why these two demons did not notice the exchange between Emi and the rest, it seems as
thought they were unable to stand the heat and focused on eating ice-cream.
“Of course!”
Maou grabbed some loose change and rushed into the shop. Emi saw the situation and—
“Once I think that I actually have to borrow on the strength of a demon who loses to the temptation of nure-senbei
to protect myself, my feelings become very complicated.”
Emi frowned, unsatisfied.
“But I heard that the nure-senbei ice cream tastes really nice, yeah? It’s the popular product in the summer it seems.”
“Chiho-dono, that is not the main point here.”
When Maou finished purchasing the ice cream and was enjoying the extraoridinary texture –
“….I wonder what kind of person the other party is, she’s called Ooguro-san right?”
Something that Urushihara said off-handedly caused Maou and Ashiya to tense up at the same time.
“You bastard. I was trying really hard not to think about it. Stop spouting nonsense.”
“Because it’s really scary! That person is the neice of the person in ‘that photo’!”
“Guh, but judging from the voice over the phone, it sounds like a young female?”
“No matter what kind of development we face next, we have no way to escape now. We just have to try our best
and leave everything to fate.”
“We haven't even seen our work location, what kind of effort do you want to put in…..”
Just then, Maou’s phone rang.
The three of them could not help but glance at each other. Maou waited a moment before answering the phone.
“Hi.”
“Ah, Maou-san? I’m infront of the station, it’s a white van.”
The groups were finally going to meet.
In order to prepare for whatever situation they might meet later on, the three great demons took a deep breath and
psyched themselves up bfore heading to the front of Inubo station, the sun-lit plaza.
Chiho and the other two also followed them to the front of the train station, the tiled plaza. (T/N: This line sounds
weird in chinese too.)
There was a van that was long past its while colouring and has now turned a cream colour, it looked really old and
seemed like the long van used for business.
When the group decided to get closer, the person in the driver’s seat seemed to have notice them. That person
unbuckled the seat belt and left the driver’s seat.
After that person appeared under the sunlight, Maou, Ashiya, Urushihara and even Emi were startled.
“Maou-san?”
“Ah, um, yeah. Uh, you are Ooguro-san?”
“That’s right, thank you for travelling all the way here. Welcome to Inubo!”
Simply put, the other person was a beautiful woman.
She appeared to be in her late twenties.
Her hair was tied up in a careless ponytail and she was wearing a black t-shirt with an old green apron. The bottom
half of her attire consisted of a torn pair of jeans and sandals. Although her attire was very casual, one could tell that
she had a body comparable to Kisaki’s.
On her make-up free face was a pair of sharp eyebrows and eyes which complemented her healthy brown skin; this
even gave the impression of a seasoned warrior.
Is this lady really that landlady’s niece?
Other then the fact that they are both female vertabrates, there is no common point with Shiba Miki.
“I guess you feel that we don’t really resemble each other right?”
Probably because he blanked out for too long, Ooguro Amane smiled at Maou seeing if she is right. Maou snapped
back to reality ---
“Uh….”
For a moment, he was unsure whether to shake or nod his head.
Maou was troubled on whether it is appropriate to say that a lady at her prime age looks like “that landlady”.
“Ahaha! Sorry sorry. From Maou-san’s standpoint, either answer must be difficult.”
“Ye, yeah….”
“Actually Miki-obaachan looks like me without makeup. Her photo when she was younger looks exactly like me.”
If what this lady said was a fact, then the flow of time is indeed a very cruel thing.
Honestly speaking, rather than imagining what the landlady looks like when she is younger and without makeup, it
will be much easier to imagine what the skin colour of the dinosaurs which became extinct 65 million years ago
actually were.
“Anyway, I am the temporary shop manager for the beach house ‘Ooguro-ya’, Ooguro Amane, nice to meet you.”
“Ah, sure. Um, I’m Maou Sadao.”
“I’m Ashiya Shiro. We will be in your care.”
“….Urushihara Hanzo.”
After Maou introduced himself, Ashiya also gave a bow with a straight back. Compared to that, Urushihara, who had
been excited before, said his name softly with a guarded expression.
“Ashiya-san and Urushihara-san huh……then again…..”
Ooguro looked at the female group behind Maou and the rest with a surprised expression.
“I feel that, it seems to be more lively than what I heard earlier.”
“Uh, erhm, the ones who will be in your care is just us three guys, the rest only came over on their own
accord……that, that’s right, Emi and Suzuno, how long do you plan to follow us for!”
If the job was blown because the large number of people caused the other party too much trouble, it’ll be bad.
Compared to Maou, who was frantically trying to explain----
“I am Maou-san’s junior, Sasaki Chiho! Because I want to see the workplace of Maou-san and the rest, I took the
chance to come over for a holiday!”
After restraining Maou, Chiho honestly explained the reason she came here and bowed.
“Hey, Chi-chan. Were you listening to me?”
“I’m Kamazuki Suzuno. I’m their……erhm, neighbor.”
“My last name is Yusa, this child is Alas=Ramus.”
Suzuno and Emi also ignored Maou, and introduced themselves respectively.
Maou thought that the both of them would deny Chiho’s motive, but unexpectedly, they showed no signs of doing
so.
By the way, the six people already decided that when they are introducing Alas=Ramus to other people, there will be
no need to use an alternate name to decive them. After all, even if they use names like Maou and Emi, the person
herself is unable to understand.
In addition, Alas=Ramus’s appearance is also very different from the Japanese, so even if they used this name
directly, no one would be suspicious.
“Oh my, you really bought over different kinds of beautiful ladies. Then who are the people who are already
married?”
Ooguro appeared not to mind these rude ladies, but once she asked, Urushihara pointed at Maou, Chiho and Suzuno
pointed at Emi, and as for Ashiya, he turned to look at a completely random direction.
““Hey!!””
Maou and Emi protested strongly at the same time.
“Making things convenient for acquaintances is the duty of the residents and workers in tourist areas. Since you
came all the way here, why don’t you come over to the store and let us serve you before it opens? As long as you
don’t leave my line of sight, you can go for a swim, I will tell you about the fun spots in Choshi, in addition……”
Ooguro gave a sideways glance at Emi.
“A normal person will definitely care about the workplace of her husband. You’re so mean, Maou-san, even though
you have such a beautiful wife, you actually said you were single over the phone!”
“I, I already said that things aren’t like that!”
Considering her mission and Chiho’s situation, even though Emi did want to understand Maou’s workplace, she
could not tolerate being seen as Maou’s wife.
Emi denied it from the bottom of her heart, but Ooguro ignored her totally.
Besides Urushihara, everyone couldn’t help but look towards Emi and Chiho, but only Emi looked unhappy, on the
other hand, Chiho was showing a very normal smile.
“Sigh, it’s not interesting standing and talking in such hot weather, let’s get on the van. You ladies can come along
too. Let me take the children’s seat out first.”
Ooguro took a children’s seat up from the boot and deftly put it on the front passenger seat, as if she knew from the
beginning that a child was going to come.
The six people looked at each other thoughtfully as they sat into the large minivan.
As Alas=Ramus needed to sit in the front passenger seat, the three ladies took up the three person seat in the
second row. As for the remaining three guys, they squeezed behind them.
“Now, because there is a baby, let’s set off by driving safely!”
Ooguro announced this after placing everyone’s luggage into the trunk, the old motor started up the engine and the
van, without any suspension system left the Inubo Station plaza, heading for the main road.
Advertisements showing the lodging facilities appeared one after another. Even though Maou and the rest have not
seen the sea before coming to Chiba, but like what Ooguro said, the scenery in front of them expanded less than five
minutes later.
The instant they drove into the coastal road, the Pacific Ocean suddenly appeared on their right side.
“Wow!”
Chiho let out a cheer.
“This is the first time I’ve seen the sea here……I never thought it would be so blue.”
Emi mumbled softly and sighed. The shining sky, and the wide expense of Pacific Ocean in front of them was
displaying the azure blue scenery it was proud of, even for Emi, who travelled the whole of Ente Isla, she had never
seen this kind of scenery.
“Even in our village, it’s hard to see such pure and azure beautiful scenery.”
Suzuno said softly with feeling.
When Emi and Suzuno exclaimed this, they still paid attention to Ooguro’s actions.
“Mama, it’s so blue! That’s so much blue! There’s a lot of ‘Chesed’!”
However, because Alas=Ramus was very excited from not seeing this kind of scenery before, she said the name of
the ‘Sephira’ which had the colour of blue.
Maou instantly shuddered, but Ooguro, who did not know anything about these matters, would definitely not know
what that meant.
“This is the coast of Kimigahama. Further behind to the right, that white building on the cape is Inubosaki
Lighthouse.”
The group looked in the direction Ooguro described, and discovered the white lighthouse situated on top of a steep
cliff, like a large organism staring at the ocean with the blue sky as its background.
“Eh, the one in front of the cape is……”
“Oh, did you see it? That’s right, that is the Ooguro-ya.”
This wide expense of coast was called Kimigahama coast, and that building ws right in the centre of the coast.
It was a building which looked like a normal residential bungalow.
Once Maou identified that building, Ooguro left the road and turned into a plaza which looked like a beach carpark.
“There seems to be lesser people than I imagined.”
Ashiya enquired this as he looked outside.
Even though Ooguro said that the work would be busy, but the cars in the carpark were few in number.
To Maou, who had seen pictures of seawater baths in the tourist magazines in the bookstores and thought that
seawater baths are places with crowds of people, this scene dampened Maou’s spirits.
Ooguro released her seatbelt and turned off the engine.
“Because the seawater baths only open tomorrow. There should only be surfers here.”
For Maou, who did not know much about the operations of seawater baths, he accepted it without thinking too
much about it.
“Tomorrow……huh?”
But Chiho seemed to be hung up on something, and placing her hand against her forehead, she gazed at the faraway
surface of the ocean.
“Surfers……ah, it’s true. On the surface of the sea……”
However, as Chiho looked out towards the beach from the window, she felt some uncertainity as she saw something
looming in the waves.
“Sasaki-san? Is something wrong?”
With Ashiya’s concerned voice, that short lived strange feeling merged within the swirl of her thoughts.
“……no, it’s nothing.”
Chiho, who could not identify what was amiss in the end, could only temporarily give up thinking about this strange
feeling.
“This is popular strolling route, before the seawater baths open, people frequently come here to see the lighthouse
or the sunrise.”
So that explains it, now that it was mentioned, they did occasionally see people brining their dogs on a walk or lying
on a plastic sheet and suntanning on their way here.
“Anyway, let’s put down the luggage first. Let me go to the lodge and help you explain a bit about the place.”
Maou and the others walked towards the bungalow they saw just now by following the slightly sloped coast.
The group got off the van in their own time, and following behind Ooguro, they stopped in front of an old wooden
door behind the building.
“Even though there’s nothing else besides futons, you can relax a little after work.”
Ooguro opened the door after saying this, and after inspecting the inside of the house, Maou, Ashiya, Suzuno and
Urushihara stared, totally stunned.
“……It feels like, the environment here is better than our home?”
It wasn’t surprising for Urushihara to voice everyone’s opinion.
The space here was about the size of 8 tatami mats. Not only did it have a wall closet, there was a similar sized
kitchen at the back of the room. Even if the room was filled with sunlight coming in from the large windows, it was
still very cool inside the room.
“I, really want to keep staying in here.”
Urushihara’s gaze was locked on a certain spot on the ceiling.
An air conditioner.
There was an air conditioner in the room.
Even though it was an old model, it was definitely an air conditioner which was outputting cool air.
“Since we’re near the ocean, the tatami will definitely bulge because of the humidity no matter what, I hope you can
tolerate that point.”
In front of the air conditioner, this small issue was nothing to the three demons.
Even though this place basically only had futons, but the Demon Fortress didn’t even have any futons.
Tempted by the living environment, Maou even forgot for a moment that he needed to go back to MgRonalds.
“But, I think this place would probably be very cold in winter.”
But with Ashiya’s rebuttal of Urushihara, Maou slowly regained his senses.
That’s right, the beach house is a seasonal operation. After the summer, they would be unable to work here.
“As long as all of you like it. I will go back to my own house at night, so please lock up the doors and windows at
night.”
Actually leaving the lodgers who have just arrived and going home without any worries, it looked like Maou and the
rest were trusted by this shop manager. At the same time, it also shows how much the other party trusted their
landlady, Miki.
“So, even though I feel bad troubling all of you when you just arrived, but can you come to the front after settling
your luggage? Work is going to start soon.”
Amongst those present, only Urushihara frowned at the mention of work, and a certain person, being more sensitive
than anyone else, sensed the change in him.
“Leave the luggage to me. Do your best at work, everyone.”
Chiho showed a smile like the sun, and took the luggage from Ashiya’s hands in a half forceful manner, and turned
around, giving Maou a look.
Faced with Chiho’s considerate actions, Maou nodded gratefully, and without any discussion beforehand, Ashiya and
him, standing on Urushihara’s left and right, grabbed an arm each.
“Hey, wait wait! I didn’t say anything at all!”
Maou and Ashiya, with spetecular rapport, ignored Urushihara’s protests and forcefully dragged him away.
Ooguro didn’t say anything more, and lead the way to the beach directly opposite.
Emi, Alas=Ramus and Suzuno followed behind.
Even though Ooguro referred to that room as a ‘lodge’, but the roof ridges of the two buildings are still connected
via a corridor, so it was connected to the back of the shop.
Just the action of stepping into a new workplace was enough to generate mixed feelings into anyone.
Maou and Ashiya also faced their new workplace with some degree of nervousness and anticipation.
However, the complicated feelings which the two people had dissolved once they saw the external appearance of
the store.
“……Eh?”
The place could only be described as causing a person to become speechless.
The beach house ‘Ooguro-ya’ is a wooden bungalow, and the space inside the store is considered spacious. It was
about twice the size of Hirose Bicycle store after all the bicycles in the store were removed.
But the whole store had not been cleaned at all, and dust accumulated everywhere.
A straw roof protruded from an area near the beach, even though the cracks from the age gave people a nostalgic
feeling, but the wooden bench underneath was really difficult to compliment.
Because the place on the other side with a row of thin wooden doors had a drainage system, should it should be the
showers. But the words ’10 minutes 100 yen’, installed at an unknown time, had already rusted from the sea wind.
The only good thing was that the washroom in the store uses a flush system toilet bowl, but the old coin lockers
really made people worry about whether they could still function normally.
The signage representing the store front was covered in rust because of the long term exposure to the wind, even if
it could not be helped that the building structure itself was old, but the surface of the backless chairs were torn such
that the sponge inside could be seen and various spots of discolouration can be seen on the bronze drink machine.
Next to the cashier counter within the store, there was an almost empty upright drink cooler. Only a few bottles of
refreshing cola were placed inside, and made everything seem all the more empty. The only saving grace was the the
metal plate for making fried noodles did not show any signs of rust.
Some cartoon characters from a few generations ago showed their smiles with the hanging floatation tubes and
beachballs as a background, making everything look more lonesome.
No matter how much they didn’t know about operating a business, they shouldn’t have neglected the store until it
became like this.
A store which would probably be closed down next year, this was Maou’s first impression of the place.
This should be a store opened by Amane’s father. If so, it made people suspect that if the lack of enthusiasm for
running a business started from her father’s generation.
In the hearts of everyone present, there was an uneasy storm which was hard to describe.
“This house is really dirty!”
Alas=Ramus childish babble innocently and accurately expressed everyone’s feelings.
“Erhm……Ooguro-san.”
Amane raised her thumb and answered Ashiya.
“Ashiya-kun, there’s no need to be so restrained! Relax and just call me Amane-chan!”
From how they force people to address them with strange nicknames, Ashiya, who confirmed that this person was
really blood related to the landlady, opened his mouth wearily,
“……Amane-san, when is the seawater bath you mentioned earlier going to open?”
Ashiya asked simply. From his tone, it was clear that Ashiya haboured the same impression as Maou.
“Tomorrow!”
Amane answered energetically.
“Honestly, the situation right now is really extremely bad.”
“Why can she still be so happy at a time like this……”
This store was so dirty that even Urushihara exclaimed about this.
“Oh my, I should have said before that I’m just a temporary shop manager. How should I put it, I’m not too sure how
to run a business, and I still have another career.”
Even though they did not know what Amane’s career was, Maou thought that it was definitely not the service
industry.
“Maou-san, Ashiya-san, the luggage is mostly settled……wah!”
Even Chiho who arrived later was speechless, proving how bad the current situation was.
“Extremely……don’t want……extremely…..Mama, what does extremely don’t want mean?”
“…..It’s fine if Alas=Ramus doesn’t know this.”
Because of the whimsicial misunderstandings which only children can do, Emi almost laughed involuntarily, but she
still held it in and said what had to be said.
“I……probably won’t buy things from this store……”
This sentence can be said to be a lethal blow. Amane sighed heavily like she agreed.
Suzuno also haboured the same thoughts as Emi.
“De……Sadao-san, what’s wrong?”
After that she sensed that Maou, who had not said anything after seeing the state of the store, seemed to be
mumbling something.
“A place like this, would be very busy in summer……customers will come……monopoly status. If it’s 1000 yen
multiplied by three, it’s still rather cheap……so……Amane-san.”
“Hmm yeah?”
Maou turned to Amane, who answered him, and asked,
“There’s one thing I want to confirm with you, if we earn a lot of money, do we get a reward?”
“Eh?”
Because they sensed that from unusual terms were mixed into Maou’s words, sounds of confusion were heard from
everyone other than Maou.
“A, a lot of money, if you can earn money, I’ll be happy to give you a reward, but……”
What angle of thinking must be employed to connect earning a lot of moneyto this scene. Like what Emi said,
whether there will be any customers is already an uncertainty.
“Ashiya, Urushihara.”
“Yes?”
“Huh, what is it?”
Both of them raised their head because of Maou calling their name.
“Let’s work hard to earn a lot of money.”
Maou looked like he was filled with confidence.
“Amane-san, please let me try.”
“Ugh, I’m alright with it, but isn’t it pushing it a little to want to earn a lot of money?”
Hey, is this what any employer should be saying? Amane’s words almost made everyone present want to rebuke her.
“Oh my, even though it’s strange for me to say it, but like what your wife said, even I do not want to buy things here.”
“I already said I’m not his wife!”
Emi’s protests immediately disappeared into the sea wind.
“For things like goals, of course the higher it is the better. As long as the goal is set a little high, then ‘the result
where the goal cannot be achieved’, would also be more fruitful compared to the result when the goal is lowered. In
addition……”
Maou said in a rather embarrassed manner.
“The appearance and the store and the variety of the products, in reality, it’s all about coporate image. Wearing
wrinkly shirts and dirty suits in front of the customers and earning their money without providing them with
complete service, it can only be called bad money, and cannot bring about more profit.”
Even though it seems like only this sentence sounded hesitant, but the conclusion is since they are going to serve
customers, then they must do their best to make perfect preparations.
“……even though you’re the Demon King.”
After Emi mumbled this angrily, she sighed heavily as if she had given up.
“……so, what exactly do you plan to do?”
Once Emi asked this, Maou asked her in return with a frown,
“Why are you asking about that?”
It wasn’t strange for Maou to react that way. Excluding Ashiya or Urushihara, it was difficult to imagine that Emi,
who did not get along with Maou, would take the initiative to ask that kind of question.
Emi’s face tightened like she had some regrets, and secretly glanced at Chiho from the corner of her eye.
“Noisy……what I mean is that I’m willing to help. Please pay attention to those small things!”
And seeing Chiho smile, strangely made Emi feel angry.
Emi’s unexpected suggestion shocked Maou, Ashiya and Urushihara.
“Wha, what happened, Yusa, did you eat something you shouldn’t?”
It wasn’t strange for Urushihara to say such a thing.
“I’m only doing you a favour so you can repay me in a equivalent manner later.”
Only Suzuno and Chiho knew the meaning behind that answer.
“Then, let me help too. Is that alright? Amane-san.”
Chiho proposed this, following Emi’s actions.
“E, even Sasaki-san……is this really alright?”
“Yes, actually I also hope that I can be of some help, and since Yusa-san wants to take part, how can I lose to her.”
Chiho’s hands formed into fists and she nodded energetically to answer Ashiya’s question.
“Unfortunately I didn’t bring any clothes which I can wear while helping with the work. If so, let me take care of
Alas=Ramus. You wouldn’t want a toddler to help with work as well right.”
“Suzu-nee chan, are we going back?”
Suzuno, who accepted Alas=Ramus from Emi’s arms, shook her head.
“Papa and the rest are going to start working now. Let’s not bother them, Alas=Ramus can play in the sand with
Suzu-nee chan.”
“Play in sand?”
It looks like Alas=Ramus did not understand what playing in the sand meant.
“That’s right, let’s build a castle on the sand.”
“Yeah!”
“I will be responsible for taking care of Alas=Ramus. Do your best everyone, to prevent the Demon King and the rest
from being fired.”
After Suzuno said this to Emi and Chiho, she took Alas=Ramus’s hand and walked towards the beach.
Emi saw the two people off with a straight face, and patted her own cheeks hard like she was trying to gather up her
motivation.
“Now what?”
Emi glared at Maou with a dangerous expression like she was going to draw a blade.
“……Are you being serious? You really want to help us?”
“Didn’t I say so earlier. Stop asking already, I’ll lose my motivation that way.”
“Urushihara, look……! The Hero actually submitted to Demon King-sama, today is a day which should be
remembered.”
“Ashiya, saying these words in this situation, don’t you feel empty at all?”
As for Chiho, she quietly watched this scene.
“Even though Chi-chan and Ashiya already have experience in it, but I use people pretty crudely, you know?”
“Can you not look down on other people? The job of telephone customer service officer isn’t something which can
be done if we’re too gentle!”
“You said it yourself. Then, next, please act according to my instructions. Don’t cry and run away even if you can’t
take it anymore, okay? Sigh, since you didn’t bring any change of clothes, I won’t ask you to do things which are too
strenuous.”
Even if his tone was arrogant, Maou still strangely showed a considerate side of him, and when he finished speaking,
he turned towards Amane.
“Amane-san, is this alright?”
The final decision still lies with Amane. After all, she is their employer. No matter how motivated Emi and Chiho are,
Maou was unable to use these new staff on his own decision.
“Even though I’m not too sure what’s going on, but I don’t mind. As long as the shop can be opened without a hitch
tomorrow, even if I have to increase the personnel costs for today, I won’t hesitate about it! It was a problem caused
by me from the beginning anyway.”
Until now, Amane still answered in a very relaxed manner.
After confirming Amane’s reaction with a sidealong glance, Maou looked at Ashiya, Urushihara, Emi and Chiho in
turn.
“Very good, let me say this first, no matter how I think about it, it’s impossible to learn a lot of money on the first
day tomorrow. Even though the number of helpers has increased, but the scope of the shop itself is too large, so the
areas we can tackle are limited. So……”
Since they were unable to rely on Amane, then Maou would have to depend on himself and work happily with these
people in order to build a shop which can proudly earn money from its customers.
Carrying the flow of money for tomorrow on his shoulders, the one worthy of the name “Substitute Shop Manager
Maou Sadao” descended on the land of Kimigahama.
“From today onwards, we are going to use all our means to ‘whitewash’ this store!”
?
Maou quicky surveyed the facilities within the store.
The lights and the facilities of the kitchen, are considered to be operating normally. Even the high humidity freezer
used to store the ingredients used a new model of the Tsukizaki brand which was even better than the one used in
the MgRonalds store in front of Hatagaya station.
As for the cream coloured roof and rusting bottom of the drink cooler, even though they are obvious signs of aging,
but if it was placed in the right position, these can still be hidden.
As the yellow brass drink machine looked like there were two taps extending out from one pipe, it was probably
specially used to contain beer.
Maou even discovered an inconspiscious, dust covered manual shaved ice machine.
Even though it did not move smoothly, it seems like it did not suffer much damage.
Besides that, after Maou confirmed the placement of the electrical mains and lighting placements, he shouted once
to boost his spirit and said this to Amane after entering the back of the store,
“Amane-san! How much petty cash do you have on hand right now?
Petty cash is a separate reserve of cash independent from the bank savings for units or shops to pay for the daily
petty expenses or unexpected situations.
Even though for MgRonalds, which had a uniform operating structure, this was not something which would appear
in the accounts at all, it will still occasionally be used to pay the transport fees of employees who provide assistance
on short notice or for the stationery used in the office.
For a store run by an individual and did not have any special rules and restrictions, like Ooguro-ya, this petty cash will
be used in a situation like having to go to a nearby supermarket to buy the sauce used in the fried noodles when it
runs out in order to tide over an emergency.
“Hmm~about 20,000 yen! If you really need it, it’s fine if I used my own personal savings.”
Amane replied loudly from the back of the store. As Chiho is still a minor, Amane said that she needed to prepare an
agreement to obtain the consent of her parents. And Maou, who discovered that Amane was quite reliable in thiese
administrative aspects, changed his view of her.
“20,000 yen is enough. Hey, Emi.”
Maou took a pen and notebook from the counter without asking for permission, and smoothly wrote out a few
words, then passed it to Emi.
“You’re responsible for buying these things written on the paper, as for the location of the shop, you can ask Amanesan,
the budget is within 5000 yen. In addition, besides the petty cash, withdraw a few 10,000 yen notes from the
ATM and go to the bank to change them into 100 yen coins.”
“I can understand the changing of the 100 yen change……but buying a new flotation tube and air pump, coloured art
paper and sandpaper, what are those for?”
Maou totally ignored Emi, who became clearly suspiscious.
“Alright, just go and do it. Remember to bring back the invoice.”
“Isn’t it the receipt?”
“Because the invoice has the products recorded on it, so as long as it’s not something too expensive, it is better to
issue an invoice when using petty cash to buy things. But if the invoice does not record the products which were
purchased, the receipt still needs to be bought back.”
“I get it. I am part of the working class after all. It’s fine as long as Ooguro-ya is written in the header, and the
products bought are written in the remarks right……”
Emi executed this properly, and went to ask Amane about the location of the shop.
“Ashiya, before Emi comes back, clean up the floors of the store. Don’t even leave one speck of dust.”
“Un……under, understood……”
Ashiya, who received his orders, started to move after strangely stuttering his reply. As he was asking Amane about
the location of the cleaning tools, and was planning to start cleaning quickly, he met Chiho by coincidence.
“Sasaki-san, listen to me……”
“Yes, Ashiya……Ashiya-san? Why are you crying?”
Even though the red nosed Ashiya had tears in the corner of his eyes, his hands are still starting the cleaning process
properly, seeing this, the flustered Chiho quickly approached him to show her concern.
“Hero……that Hero Emilia, the enemy of all demons! Actually obeying the orders of Demon King-sama because of the
awe inspiring ruler’s aura which Demon King-sama emits! Seeing this scene in person……I……I am very touched! Even
though this is only a small step for demon, but it is a large step for demonkind……!” (T/N: Yes, Ashiya was quoting
Lance Armstong.)
Chiho watched Ashiya who couldn’t help but start crying with a stiff smile on her face.
“Even though it’s not as if I do not understand your joy, but I think you still got it wrong, anyway, please apologise to
Armstrong-san first.”
“Sob sob……it was good that I did not lose to despair and lived on.”
As she could not understsand what Ashiya felt touched about, Chiho could only gloss over it with a smile and walked
towards Maou.
“Ah, Chi-chan, how was it? Did your mother agree?”
Maou asked this to Chiho who returned. Even though the flow of the situation made it such that Chiho was helping
them and caused trouble for the other party, but from Chiho’s expression, she should have received a positive
answer.
“Ooguro-san helped me call as well, so my mum agreed to let me work here. Now Ooguro-san is in the store
preparing the contracts for me, Maou-san and everyone……”
Chiho paused a while, like she was replying cautiously by choosing the right words.
“She really agreed?”
Even though she knew Chiho was in Choshi, then from Riho’s point of view, she should know that this incident had a
very deep connection with Maou.
Of course, Maou would definitely not know what Riho and Chiho talked about before, but not considering that, for
Riho to approve of Chiho working at her holiday location was still a very bold decision.
Of course Riho probably based this on her trust in her daughter, so she approved of this unprecedented action. Not
only towards her daughter, this also represented how fully she trusted the people around her daughter.
If so, then it gave Maou more reason not to break this trust and bond.
“……looks like after we return, we would have to make a trip to Chi-chan’s house with local souveniers to express our
gratitude.”
“Eh? There’s, there’s no need to go through so much trouble. It’s something I wanted to do anyway.”
Even though this answer was expected from someone like Chiho, but Maou still shook his head.
“We already received so much help from you, how can we not express our gratitude in return……if this goes on,
there might be a day I really need to go to your house and ask your family to let you join the Demon Army.”
Maou said this casually.
“……I, I’m a little flattered.”
Chiho drew in a sharp breath.
At this time, Maou finally realized what the words he said could imply.
“Ah? Ah! Uh, erhm, I did not mean it that way, how should I say it, this is just an euphemistic expression, not a reply
to the earlier incident, ah, it’s not like it’s totally not like that, eh? eh?”
“Erhm……if the ‘Demon Army’ part is taken out……uh, erhm, it does sound like……a kind of reservation……”
“Eh? What?”
Chiho timidly became coy, and Maou did not hear what she was trying to say clearly.
“No, nothing……b, but, really, one day……”
“……Hey, there’s someone watching here. If there’s no work, I’m going to enjoy the air conditioning, you know.”
“Woah?”
“Urushi, Urushihara-san?”
The voice came from the feet of the two people. Urushihara, who squatted behind the beer bar, caused Maou and
Chiho to jump in shock.
“Ah, er, erhm, yeah, you have work too. So wait a moment!”
“Sin, since you’re here, why didn’t you say anything!”
Chiho protested, her face and ears red, and Urushihara looked at Chiho, frowing in unhappiness.
“That’s why you say, but if I really interrupt, you’ll still complain right.”
Just this time, Urushihara was right.
Maou and Chiho were pictures of embarrassment, but staking his diginity as the Demon King, Maou was the one
who recovered first.
“Cough! Now, even though it’s a rather boring job, but Chi-chan will stay here……”
After coughing hard once, Maou and Chiho walked into the kitchen together, and Maou took the salt and vinegar
from the seasoning rack, and a brush from the sink before walking over.
In front of Chiho, who was confused because she did not understand Maou’s intentions, he put a large spoon of salt
into a small bowl, and after adding in vinegar, he used the brush to mix them evenly.
Maou walked up to the drink machine which was covered in discolouration, and brushed its surface with the brush
dipped in the mix of salt and vinegar.
“Ah! Amazing, it came off!”
Then in the area which Maou brushed before, the yellow bronze regained its golden shine.
“As long as salt is used as the abrasive, and vinegar is added, the discolouration can be removed. I hope that Chichan
can spend some time to wipe this fella until it’s all shiny.”
“I understand! Leave it to me!”
Even if her face was still a little red, Chiho still answered energetically and accepted the brush.
“If the salt and vinegar runs out, then add more into it, let me know when you’re done scrubbing.”
After Chiho expressed her agreement and started to work, Urushihara spoke to Maou again.
“Even though you don’t have any television or internet, it’s surprising that you would know the tricks of the
housewives.”
“I learnt this when I just arrived in Japan. When I was a short term worker, my work locations really varied a lot.”
“Oh? You’re referring to the job you mentioned earlier where you needed to buy long sleeved shirts?”
“Yeah. Even though they are basically labour jobs like carrying heavy things, but like helping a theatre group to
transport large props, hanging advertisements and promoting on the street, or investigating the traffic flow volume
on the street, I really did many types of jobs. The technique which I taught Chi-chan, was learnt when I helped clean
a winehouse full of nostalgia before its opening. After all, it is a simple job which did not require specialized tools.”
“In life, you’ll never know when some things will end up being useful.”
Urushihara smiled wryly, and Maou, in a rare occurrence, agreed.
“Even though I’m not sure when this will come into use in your life in future, I’m still going to assign work to you.”
“I don’t want work which is too troublesome.”
Even if he lowered his volume because he was conscious of Amane’s presence, Urushihara still did not change his
sassy attitude.
Maou grabbed Urushihara and pointed towards the customers’ seats.
“Remove all the seat cushions from these chairs.”
“Eh?”
“You can use scissors or anything you want, just remove all these seat cushions, and expose the wood. Alright?”
“Remove…..uh, I can do that, but why?”
“These are seats for the seawater bath customers who will be wearing wet swimsuits.”
Maou pointed at the dirty seat cushions.
“Normal people would probably not want to sit on this kind of seats with a wet bottom right? Originally, they
wouldn’t have to worry about the seat being wet if they stuck a plastic layer over it, using this only causes it to
absorb water and create the opposite effect.”
“Eh? But if the seat cushion is removed and hard wood is left, their bottoms will hurt when sitting on it.”
“For customers to come, compared to exposing the hard wood, it is more important than having them feel
uncomfortable when they are sitting because a wet bottom. On the other hand, since they aren’t many seats here,
there is specially make the customers too comfortable, and cause the table turnover rate to decrease. Since we need
to fight under limited conditions, I hope to constrain the satisfaction level of every customer, and give priority to
increasing the table turnover rate, after cutting off the seat cushions, we will use the sandpaper Emi buys back……”
“I see, first remove the seat cushions, then smoothing out the chair surface and the edges so it’s more comfortable
to sit on.”
Amane appeared from the side. And for the documents she’s holding, it should be the labour contract for working
which Chiho mentioned.
“Actually coming up with so many ideas. Have you opened a store before?”
“Uh, no, I haven’t……and even though I can explain the reason for doing these things, when I decided to do them, it
was purely on instinct.”
The contents of Maou’s suggestion weren’t the result of his original line of thought, he just built up an optimised
model from the experiences he learnt in MgRonalds with the goal of making the customers want to buy things here.
“Sorry, suddenly doing things like breaking things in the store……”
“It’s alright it’s alright, it can’t be helped. I can accept the reasons you said just now as well. Even though the stores
nowadays use foldable chairs, but our store does not have enough money to change them. If there is a way to
improve this wihout spending money, that would be the best.”
Without knowing if she really thought that way or she just wanted to comfort Maou, Amane nonchalantly patted
Maou’s shoulder while smiling.
“That’s how things are, Urushihara. The employer already approved, so start to take the chair apart, but do it
beautifully, don’t leave any cushion or any marks okay.”
“……it’s still troublesome, seriously.”
Even if Urushihara complained, in front of Amane, he reluctantly started to work.
“Erhm, I’m going to say hi to Suzuno next, if you have any orders to pass to the brewery or vegetable store, please
send it out first.”
“No problem. I have already prepared the contracts, when your wife comes back, everyone can have a look at it.”
“I already said she’s not my wife……”
Maou sulked, and ran out before Amane could answer.
Some distance away from the waves, Suzuno was building a sandcastle together with Alas=Ramus.
No, to be more accurate, only Suzuno seemed to be building it.
“Papa, Suzu-nee chan is amazing!”
It was understandable for Alas=Ramus, who was running towards Maou, to say something like this, because the
workpiece which Suzuno created such that even the lower hem of her Yukata was covered in sand was definitely a
proper city with a moat.
Unlike the western style castle, it was a pure Japanese style Osaka Castle in which even the fish shaped titles were
completely replicated.
In such a short time, Suzuno even meticulously drew in the seawater to form a protective moat around the castle
When children see this kind of thing, they would normally reach out to destroy it like the monsters in the movies,
but it looks like Alas=Ramus used her tender aesthetic appreciation and felt something from Suzuno’s workpiece.
“……so, you had this kind of special skill……”
“Hm, it’s the Demon King. Oh my, after being asked by Alas=Ramus, I became serious without really being aware of
it.”
Suzuno showed a smile like she was saying ‘Mission Accomplished’. But in reality, this workpiece was so perfect that
it made people want to take a picture, and name it “Himeji Castle”.
(T/N: Himeji Castle is considered the finest surviving example of prototypical Japanese castle architecture, so
comparing Suzuno’s workpiece of Himeji Castle just emphasizes how good her skill is.)
“It’s nothing much. During training, there were already some people who would learn church architecture and statue
sculpting. Considering that corrections can be made, sand sculpting is so much simpler. Sigh, even though parts of it
will break when the wind blows.”
Even though he never heard of any inquisitor who learnt church architecture and statue sculpting building Himeji
Castle at the beach, Maou, who had originally intended to ask Suzuno to bring Alas=Ramus along to pick some shells,
suddenly changed his mind.
“Suzuno, please. Can you build one next to the store later? As for the payment, I will discuss it with Amane-san.”
“Build a sandcastle? I’m alright with it……but is there any meaning in that?”
“I think that you, who see no meaning in it, are even scarier.”
Maou looked towards that Himeji Castle, feeling very touched.
Even though the time Emi and Chiho could spend here is limited, but Suzuno was basically a free spirit.
After confirming the lodging and payment and asking Suzuno, it might be possible to ask her to make a different
sand sculpture every day. After all, there is nothing else which can draw in the customers more effectively than this.
“…….Sigh, anyway, please take care of Alas=Ramus for the time being.”
“Leave it to me. Alas=Ramus, what do you want to make next?”
“Hmm~ Mama!”
“Emilia huh, no problem, leave it to me.”
Since she was able to make the Osaka Castle, then a person should be a piece of cake for her. Maou left Suzuno who
seemed like she was going to make a sand giant and returned to the store.
“These are the main suppliers. And this is the main menu from last year.”
Urushihara was still removing the seat cushions, and Amane placed all types of documents on the table next to the
chairs.
“Anyway, let’s narrow down the dishes for the first day. From the order list, the ingredients will be completely
delivered tomorrow morning, in addition to preparation time, it’s not possible to make everything, but as long as we
make good use of the metal plate......ah……Amane-san, what kind of job do you normally do?”
Basically, Emi, Chiho and Suzuno could only help out for today. If so, Maou and Ashiya would have to cover for
Urushihara, who had less experience in talking with other people, and Amane, who had ignored the shop until it fell
into this state.
However, if Amane’s main occupation is one which serves customers or is related to cooking, then they could take
the chance to teach her the preparation work……
“Uh……it should be, considered hand to hand combat, I guess?”
“Hand to hand combat……huh?”
Maou, who couldn’t react immediately, returned the statement as a question.
“Uh~ in short, my skills in cooking should be lower than the normal living standard. I don’t even know how to cut a
cabbage into thin strips.”
Is this employer really alright? Maou started to feel a strange unease.
“How should I put it, hmm, oh yeah, it’s more of a security occupation.”
Could she be like Urushihara, only specialising in guarding the safety of her own home. Amane did say over the
phone before that the store was originally run by her parents, and Maou started to suspect if the parents decided to
push a store which did not earn any profit onto the daughter who did not have a job.
No matter what, this meant they couldn’t take the risk and let Amane use the kitchen.
Since she knew the term “petty cash”, it meant Amane should possess the minimum knowledge of the terms used in
the retail industry. It looks like she should just act like a shop manager and be responsible for the inflow and outflow
of money.
Which meant that Ashiya would naturally be responsible for the cooking.
“As for the drinks……for acidic drinks, Oletimin C would be the main drink, followed by refreshing cola, three swords
soft drink, orange juice, sports drink and tea……wouldn’t this be too much.”
There was only one drink cooler, and there were 4 levels inside. If the contents were not limited, when one of the
products sell out, it would look very shabby as a whole.
“Why do you want to buy Oletimin C, aren’t the bottles quite small?”
In response to Amane’s question, Maou answered with a shake of his head.
“Because the bottle is thin, more can be put into the cooler, the volume means it can be finished quickly, and it’s
cheap as well. Placing a 100 yen item amongst 120 yen items would attract attention regardless of whether you’re
buying or not right? Also, very few people will bring paper cash when they come to play in the water. The shower
stalls and coin operated lockers use 100 yen, after the customers exchange the coins, the number of 100 yen coins in
their purse will increase. As long as there are products which allow the customers to pay for it conveniently, the
sales here will increase.”
This was knowledge gained from MgRonalds’s low priced ala carte items, known as the 100 yen combinations.
“In addition, I want this thing.”
Maou pointed at the order form, and on top, it was written “Oletimin C special promotion event, buy two boxes and
get a set of A2 sized posters to promote the store”. In short, as long as they order two boxes of drinks, they would be
able to obtain merchandise for promotion use.
“What is it, Maou-kun, you want the poster of beautiful ladies in swimsuits?”
Amane looked at the idol poster which had an energetic girl printed on it, and asked Maou this with some interest,
but he shook his head to deny it in a solemn manner.
“I plan to imitate the nostalgic billboards, and cover up the faults in the walls a little. As long as we paste the idol
poster near the drink cooler to attract the customer’s attention, less people would notice that the cooler is already
old. And the girl on the poster is cute, which helps in the promotions.”
“Wow, how boring. Are you a Mensao Dansei? Or a real herbivore?”
(T/N: Mensao Dansei or Mensao Guy, refers to a guy who looks quiet, cold or even dull outside, but inside they are
volatile, charismatic, hot and sexy.)
Even though someone else was speaking so seriously, why is she using this kind of tone.
“The reason why I asked Chi-chan……Sasaki-san to wipe the drink machine was because of this. If a dark store as a
shiny beer machine to attract the customer’s attention, then it will divert their attention from other places. Next, as
long as we get some beer related posters when we order the drinks, it would be perfect as long as we guide the
customer’s lineof sight from the beer to the menu.”
“Wow……so that’s why.”
“As long as we place the flotation tube that Emi buys back here, then an old inventory would look very plentiful. In
short, it would be enough as long as we can reorganize this place into a minimum standard beach house. A direct
attack will occur afterwards.”
“Oh~”
Amane looked at Maou in admiration. And then Maou’s phone suddenly received a call from Emi.
“Hello, what’s up. For you to take the initiative to call me, don’t tell me it’s the end of the world tomorrow.”
“I’m going to cut.”
The words sounded a little strange.
(T/N: In Japanese, ‘cut’ and ‘hang up’ have a similar pronouciation.)
“I’m in front of a hypermart near Choshi station, what kind of new flotation tube do you want? Considering the other
things which need to be bought, 5000 yen is enough to only buy one.”
“Just buy the child sized one. It’s best to buy a gender neutral one. Is there one with Pokemon pictures?”
Pokemon is the short form for the recently popular game “Pocket Monsters”, and is also a series which would
release a movie version yearly, a franchise welcomed nationwide.
For the toy which came with the “Happy Meals” specially tailored for children in MgRonalds, they once released
products which were related to Pokemon.
“It’s too bad, looks like there isn’t anymore Pokemon flotation tubes. As for Pirichu and close up products……ah, it’s
Rilakkuma……”
(T/N: Pirichu is the parody for Pikachu.)
“What are you getting excited about!”
“Do, does it matter! If it’s Rilakkuma, even boys can barely accept it…..”
“There’s no such thing.”
Maou denied Emi’s fantasy instantly.
“What! Not knowing how cute this thing is, you’re a demon after all……ah, Pokemon……but it’s not a flotation tube
though, it’s a child sized play pool……”
Emi said this while flipping through the things in the merchandise area, causing Maou to strike up an idea.
“Emi! How big is that play pool?”
“What? It’s not that big. The length and width is about two metres, because it’s for children, so it’s not that deep……”
“Length and width of two metres……that’s just right! Buy it! Buy it quickly!”
“Eh? Asking me to buy, the budget will be exceeded that way……”
“I’ll pay for it! As for the flotation tube, it’s fine to buy Rilakkuma!”
“……Alright alright, I get it. Then, I’ll be back in a while.”
After answering Emi in a lax manner, Maou hung up the phone.
Then he ran next to the counter and flipped through the phone book.
“Choshi is considered a habour……fish……need to be kept fresh……when in storage and transport, they will definitely
use that……found it!”
After discovering an advertisement, Maou quickly picked up the phone.
Amane looked at Maou acting this way, stunned, then she saw him lightly strike a victory pose after having a short
conversation with the other party.
“Who did you call?”
“The ice block shop. A place called Southern Choshi Ice Industries.”
“Ice block shop?”
“I was thinking since there is a fish habour, then there will definitely be a business selling ice. After calling to confirm,
I realised their volume for a single order isn’t that large, Amane-san, I’m sorry, but can you drive over to get the ice?
I ordered edible ice for shaved ice and pure ice which doesn’t melt easily for cooling.”
“For cooling?”
After Maou turned to look inside the store, and turned back again to explain.
“Considering the issues with the electrical sources, the drink cooler can only be placed within the store and cannot
be moved. So I asked Emi to buy a play pool back, and I paln to fill it up with ice and a bunch of drinks to sell in front
of the store. Not only will it attract customers, it will also allow people to buy drinks without entering the store. At
the same time, the cooler can be filled with drinks for people who want to eat a proper meal to increase the variety
of the products.”
“Oh……you actually thought of this……but, you actually plan to use that to make shaved ice?”
Amane pointed to the manual ice shaving machine which Maou pulled out.
“That thing might look simple, but it’s strenuous and troublesome to use in reality, is there really a need to prepare
to that extent?”
“Don’t worry. With regards to the drinks and shaved ice, it’s enough to let Urushihara handle it by himself.”
“Eh, huh? That’s pushing it too much!”
Urushihara, who was removing the seat cushions at the side, shouted in surprise.
“Erhm, isn’t that too great a burden for Urushihara……”
“That’s what I feel as well. He definitely can’t do it.”
“Hey, even though I feel the same way myself, is there really a need to be so ruthless?”
Hearing Maou say this, Ashiya and Chiho, who were focused on their tasks, asked this uneasily, causing Urushihara
to frown once again.
But Maou puffed out his chest in confidence.
“Relax. I’m going to be in charge of the miscellaneous tasks in the hall, and I will help him properly when needed. In
addition, with the method I’m using, it’s an ideal system where I can let Urushihara handle it alone without worrying
that he will mess up, and even if shaved ice machine cannot be used well, the customers will not complain.”
“Ah?”
“Wha, what does that mean exactly?”
“Urushihara-san……can work by himself?”
Maou watched the three people express their surprise in different ways with a satisfied expression, and started to
explain the epoch making system which would allow the NEET fallen angel to sell multiple products by himself.
After he finished explaining everything----
“So, so that’s how it is……unlike MgRonalds, because this is Ooguro-ya, it’s possible to do this kind of thing.”
Chiho subconsciously spoke to herself.
“As long as a person who knows how to open and close the cooler and read the prices is found to sit there, it is
possible to achieve……as expected of Demon King-sama, you have such foresight!”
“Ashiya, you’re too honest. You’re so honest I’m really starting to feel sad.”
Saying this, Urushihara showed an expression of relief----
“But if it’s just that, it feels like I can do it too.”
And in a rare occurrence, he said something positive.
?
In the darkness, colourful and vibrant fireworks danced continuously in the stable sea wind.
“This, looks really charming.”
On the front end of the rod shaped object which Ashiya held uneasily, many colours of fireworks were emitted
continuously from it, illuminating Ashiya’s stiff expression at the same time.
“Mama, sparkles, it’s sparkling.”
“This is too early for Alas=Ramus, let stay at the side and watch.”
Even though for a child who merged with the holy sword and is on par with an archangel, fireworks shouldn’t be a
problem for her, but Alas=Ramus was still like a normal toddler, and frequently ends up crying in fear because of
loud noises and lights that she did not recognize.
So even if the girl is able to bask in the beauty of the lights from a distance, but if they allowed her to hold a normal
stick firework, she might still end up throwing it away in fear.
“Hey, how is this any fun?”
If that was the case, it wouldn’t be very interesting to let Alas=Ramus watch the snake firework which Urushihara
squatted and placed on the beach squirm around, so Emi decided to act like a mother and take on the responsibility
of watching the child.
Currently, the beach house Ooguro-ya finally regained the appearance of what a shop should have, which allowed
Amane to have the free time to organize a firework event to welcome Maou and the others.
“Hey, Ashiya, lend me some fire! I want to challenge four swords style!”
Someone stretched out four weapons beside Ashiya’s firework.
The mighty king of the Demon World held two different fireworks in both hands, and was currently enjoying himself
greatly.
“……As long as you’re happy.”
Ashiya honestly moved the flame to the fireworks in Maou’s hands.
“Ah, it fizzled out.”
But as Ashiya’s firework fizzled out halfway, only three sticks were lit.
“……They only have different outer packaging, in the end, the colours of the flames that come out are the same.”
The three firework sticks emitted the same sparks, causing the king of the Demon World to become depressed.
When Emi returned in the afternoon, Alas=Ramus, who grew bored of playing in the sand, and Suzuno just
happened to return to the beach house, so the group look a little rest. Ashiya used the existing ingredients, and
challenged himself to make multiple portions of fried noodles as lunch for everyone.
During cooking, because Ashiya felt shocked at the firepower of the metal plate due to the Liquefied Petroleum Gas,
from the start till the end----
“If only the Demon Fortress could have this kind of firepower……”
He kept mumbling these useless things to himself.
After the break, Maou asked Suzuno to choose at place where the sea wind will not reach, and begin to build to
proper Osaka Castle there, as for Emi, she had left halfway to take care of Alas=Ramus.
Urushihara used the sandpaper to smooth out the exposed original wooden surface of the chairs.
Ashiya referred to the basic recipes of the menu and started to prepare the existing ingredients, watching Ashiya,
Chiho wrote cute and attention catching words on the coloured art paper which Emi bought, making the signs to be
displayed within the store to showcase the products.
As it was said that the showers are an important factor which determines the standard of a beach house, Maou
attentively cleaned every corner according to Amane’s instructions, making sure there was not one patch of rust left.
The breakwater is a famous spot in Choshi to view the sunset, and right now, the sun was setting to the west and the
skies were turning dark.
The beach house ‘Ooguro-ya’, which Emi had commented that she ‘won’t buy things from this store’, and people had
despaired over whether it would open at all, was finally reorganized into a normal looking aged store.
As for the stains and cracks on the walls as well as the rust on the noticeboards which accumulated over a long
period of time, there was nothing they could do about them for now, therefore only the transportation of the
ingredients tomorrow morning and the final preparations were left.
At this moment, Suzuno’s sand sculpture workpiece-----named the ‘Sand Sculpture, Blue Heaven Tower’ was
completed.
“Kamazuki-san, you can earn money through this……”
This large tower was so detailed that Amane commented thus.
It was unknown what techniques Suzuno used, but it didn’t look so fragile and it will break upon contact.
According to Suzuno, the sand of Kimigahama was very suitable for making sand sculptures, as long as sand and
water were mixed in a proper ratio, and sculpting was done after the sand has set, it can easily last one or two days.
Earlier, Emi had gone to a hotel at Inubo Cape, which was about a ten plus minute journey from Kimigahama, to
register their accommodation and eat dinner, and because of Amane’s invite to experience fireworks for the first
time, she returned to Kimigahama.
Afterwards, Maou knew it was not just Emi and Suzuno, even Chiho would be staying here.
“In the end, you’re going to stay here?”
Maou, who couldn’t help asking, found out at Chiho had already received her parents’ consent about her staying
over, and even if he couldn’t quite accept it, he didn’t say anything more.
In reality, other than Amane and Chiho, it was everyone else’s first time playing with fireworks.
As they had already been in Japan for more than one year, Maou and the rest did know what fireworks are, but once
they personally came into contact with fireworks, they understood that even though this was just a toy, the design
was very detailed.
At least, regardless of demonic magic or holy spells, they would be unable to produce sparks or flames this colourful.
“Alas=Ramus-chan, do you want to look at this?”
Chiho took a rather large model out from the fireworks pile.
“This firework is really big. What is it?”
Emi also grew interested in this firework. Compared to the firework model which was placed on the ground and shot
its flames upwards, this firework which had thin bamboo sticks as its main body not only had a pentagon like shaped
object placed at the front end, it even had a wick at the end.
The group had dug a hole earlier to provide shelter from the wind, and after Chiho stood some distance away from
the people around here, she moved the wick at the front towards the candle in the hole.
“Woah----!”
Alas=Ramus exclaimed.
When the pentagon shaped paper at the end of the bamboo stick turned, colourful sparks were emitted.
Compared to the loud sounds of fireworks, these sparks burned for more than then seconds before they fizzled out,
but unexpectedly, there was a change which cause Alas=Ramus’s eys to shine.
“Birdie!”
The pentagon shaped paper split into two after spinning from the gunpower inside it and changed into a birdcage
shaped paper art.
It looks like a small yellow bird was placed into the paper made birdcage from the start.
“Birdie, chirp chirp!”
As Alas=Ramus saw this, she gave an expression ilke she really wanted to touch it.
After handing the stick to Emi, Chiho said,
“Even though there might be a slightly charred smell, but let her touch it after a while.”
“This is made really well……today’s toys are really amazing.”
“There seems to be other types where a parachute or flags of many countries will fly out, but it’s too bad that
fireworks which can fly cannot be released here, so I cannot introduce those to you.”
Basically, most beaches forbid fireworks which can fly upwards, such as rockets, because they can be affected by
wind direction and it’s difficult to predict where they will land.
“It’s a little birdie!”
After ensuring it was no longer hot, Emi passed the birdcage to Alas=Ramus, and the young girl’s eyes shone because
of the birdcage in her hands.
“Hey, you haven’t thanked Chiho onee-san yet, have you?”
“Thank kwew!”
Alas=Ramus honestly said her thanks at Emi’s prompting, and that lively appearance caused Amane and Suzuno, who
were some distance away, to smile.
“Hmph, this means I won three times in a row!”
On the other end, Maou, who seemed to have grown tired of the multi-sword style playing method, sat in a circle
together with Ashiya, Amane and Suzuno, who was wearing a Yukata, playing “Sparkler Elimination Competition”,
competing to see whose firework would be able to last the longest in the sea wind.
“Damn, the Yukata matches the sparkler too well, I don’t feel dissatisfied even if I lost! Isn’t that right, Maou-kun!”
Seeing Suzuno’s charming state, Amane patted the shoulder of Maou, who was beside her, with some force.
“Uh, I’m not specially……”
“How can we lose to her! Please continue to do your best!”
Ashiya, who was standing beside Maou, drew out another three sparklers from the bundle, thoroughly doing his job
as a judge.
“Mama, Mama!”
“Hm? What is it?”
“There, will a little birdie fly out from there as well?”
The direction which Alas=Ramus pointed in as she carefully hugged the birdcage was not towards the direction of
Maou and the others who were excitedly playing with fireworks.
Looking carefully, lights from a group of fishing boats were shown on the surface of the night sea. It looked like a
large group of boats, so that was it, it did resemble the colour of the sparks emitted by that birdcage firework.
“About that, I don’t know as well. Then again, Alas=Ramus shouldn’t be afraid of sparklers right. Do you want to go
over to Suzuno onee-san, and ask them to let you join in?”
“Suzu-nee chan!”
Emi gently diverted Alas=Ramus’s attention back to the fireworks, and sat on the beach with a straight back.
Even though Alas=Ramus was slowed down by the sand, she still tried very hard to run to where Suzuno was.
Seeing this, Emi turned back to the sea.
The lights reflected on the sea surface at night are not good signs.
In the Southern Continent of Ente Isla, the strange fires on the sea were seen as a sign of great misfortune.
Currently on the Southern Continent, it is said that the people who saw the strange fires on the sea emitted by the
dead souls would meet a disaster and be brought to the gates of Hell.
The necromancy techniques which the Demon General Maracoda and his troops was skilled in would be the most
effective in this kind of place where supertitous beliefs ran thick and deep.
Of course, this place is Japan, and Emi knew those were lights from fishing boats, and knew that on Earth, those
called Shiranui and St. Elmo's Fire and so on were strange fire phenomenon which have yet to be explained by
scientists.
(T/N: Shiranui – It is a phenomenon originating in Kyushu. They are said to appear on days of the noon moon such
the kaijitsu (29th or 30th day) of the seventh month of the lunisolar calendary when the wind is weak, in the
Yatsushiro Sea and the Ariake Sea. Furthermore, they can be seen in modern time, but they been determined to be
an atmospheric optical phenomena.
St Elmo’s Fire - s a weather phenomenon in which luminous plasma is created by a coronal discharge from a sharp or
pointed object in a strong electric field in the atmosphere (such as those generated by thunderstorms or created by
a volcanic eruption))
But these phenomenon were definitely treated as strange existences in Ente Isla.
“Hm, are you afraid of Shiranui?”
Emi raised her head because of the sudden question and realised that Amane was watching the sea surface which
Alas=Ramus had just pointed out.
“You not playing with the sparklers anymore?”
Emi used this question to change the topic.
“I can’t win no matter how many times I play it. The Yukata Kamazuki-chan is wearing isn’t just for show. So I
changed places with Chiho-chan.”
Even though she had never heard that wearing a Yukata would allow for more stabling handling of sparklers, but
Amane continued to speak,
“I don’t mean to scare you by saying this, but Choshi has a tale known as the “Snarling Spirits”.
“Snarling Spirits?”
“Snarling Spirits are a type of boat spirit which would appear next to fishing boats during a fog or a storm. In order to
increase their number of drowned comrades, they will shout “Lend me Inaga”. Inaga refers to a hook, if you lend
them a hook, that boat will sink. When Snarling Spirits appear, they will light fires on the surface of the sea, just like
that. Kyushu seems to have a similar story, but in simple terms, they are just pranks of dead spirits which cannot
move on.”
Amane said as she looked at the boats on the surface of the sea.
“I often feel that, I cannot understand the thinking that the dead returning to the world of the living means that they
are going to do evil.”
“Eh?”
“Oh my, because isn’t there a cultural practice like the Obon Festival? So I think that, the first one who is afraid of
the dead or the signs from that world must have done a lot of bad things when they were alive.”
“Aren’t these stories created because people are afraid of death?”
Urushihara interrupted from the side.
From the ten plus burnt out snake fireworks laid out in front of Urushihara, he probably really likes this thing.
“Don’t you feel that the voices of those who are afraid of death and those who are afraid of the dead are completely
different?”
As the topic turned to matters related to life and death, it gave a feeling that Suzuno would be more suited to
explain these things.
“Fearing the dead who have regrets or sentimental attachments is like adding insult to the injury, isn’t that really
mean? In reailty, the truly scary ones……”
Amane suddenly looked towards the lighthouse on Inubo Cape which was shining light into the dark surface of the
sea.
“have always been those who are living. Basically, what is known as bad omens, all have a scientific basis, and are
only the result of these chain reactions. Uh, anyway, what I wanted to say is……”
Amane turned back towards the beach.
In her line of sight, were Maou, Ashiya, Suzuno, Chiho and the smiling Alas=Ramus, who was holding a sparkler with
Chiho’s assistance.
“We can’t let that child do anything that discriminates a spirit.”
“……Amane-san?”
“What? What does that mean?”
Just as Emi and Urushihara probed further because they did not understand what Amane wanted to express----
Worawrrrrrrrrrrrrrrom…………
Worawrrrrrrrrrrrrrromm…………
Worawrrrrrrrrrrrrrrommm…………
A loud sound like a low pitched police siren shook the whole of Kimigahama.
Other than Amane, everyone else fliched because of the sudden sound.
“Ah uhm?”
Even Alas=Ramus, who had been playing with the sparklers happily, looked around in fright, and the sparkler which
was producing sparks dropped to the ground.
“It’s, it’s alright, there’s no need to be afraid.”
Chiho quickly hugged Alas=Ramus, and touched her cheek to calm her down, but the continuous roaring caused
Alas=Ramus’s expression to change into a crying face.
“It’s alright! It’s nothing to be afraid of!”
Even if Chiho tried her best to console Alas=Ramus, she still looked like she was going to cry any moment. Even
though she was an abnormal existence who can bravely face Gabriel, Alas=Ramus was still like any normal toddler
who did not have any resistance against the fear of unknown things.
When the air shaking loud noise sounded again, Alas=Ramus finally started crying.
“Wahhhhh, I don’t wannaaaaa!”
“Oh my oh my……this sound is terrifying to small children after all.”
Amane, the only one who looked composed, turned her gaze back to the lighthouse.
“W, we were a little spooked as well……”
Just as Emi replied, that roar echoed once again.
“Uh, this thing, is the sound produced by the fog horn of the lighthouse. So it doesn’t represent any danger, all of
you can relax.”
“Fog horn?”
Emi asked Amane because of the term she had never heard before.
“This is the sound signal which the fog signal of the light house produces when a dense fog appeared. It is a warning
signal to warn the boats to be careful not to come into contact with the reefs. Isn’t a fog starting to appear on the
sea?”
As long as the weather conditions were met, the seas in summer can still form fogs as easily as in winter.
“Hey hey hey, wasn’t the weather earlier really good?”
Everyone present lifted their heads upwards at Maou’s voice and involuntarily sucked in a breath. Starting from an
unknown time, the faraway surface of the sea was covered in a pure white dense fog. Even the lights fo the fishing
boats were swallowed by the fog, and they could only barely confirm their positions.
“Such, such a serious fog.”
Ashiya looked around frantically, and Chiho hugged Alas=Ramus tightly once again to prevent her from being scared.
“From this situation, it might come over.”
Amane’s tone started to contain some anxiousness.
“As fogs form frequently in Kimigahama, it was known as “Kirigahama’ once. Looks like this fog will probably spread
to land. It’s too bad, but the fireworks event has to end now.” (T/N: Kiriga meaning fog)
Amane nodded, pointed to the remains of the fireworks and said to Maou,
“I’m sorry, but can I trouble you to clean this up? I’m going to send the girls back to the hotel. After all, once the fog
reaches land, it would be so thick that even the locals cannot venture outside.”
Amane, who swiftly gave her orders, was totally different from the relaxed side of her in the day.
“I, I understand.”
Even when Maou and Ashiya worked together to clean up the ashes, Alas=Ramus was still crying continuously.
“Wahhhhh, I don’t wannaaaaa!”
“……it’s rare for her to cry continuously like this……”
As it can be confirmed with the naked eye that the dense fog was continuously moving towards land with the aid of
the wind, even as Maou’s forehead creased, he still quickly told Amane,
“I’ll leave Chi-chan and Alas=Ramus to you.”
“Hey hey hey, how about your wife and Kamazuki-chan.”
Even if Amane replied lightly, she still nodded immediately like she did not have the leisure to continue joking with
Maou.
“Leave it to me. But as much as possible, don’t go outside. You have to wake up early tomorrow, so sleep for today.
Now, Chiho-chan, Yusa-chan, Kamazuki-chan, let’s go.”
Amane urged the few females to quickly leave the beach, and Maou and the rest watched them go, feeling uneasy.
When Emi and the others reached the hotel, the dense fog which swallowed the whole city was so dense that even
the scenery on the other side of the street could not be seen.
“Alright, go and rest everyone. Remember to come and collect your pay tomorrow.”
However, after Amane drove Emi and the rest over, she immediately started working on the fog covered road.
“Amane-san, the fog is still really thick now. Why don’t you wait in the hall for a while?”
Suzuno’s suggestion was to be expected. But Amane rejected it.
“I have some small matters to take care of. Hm, it has something to do with my main occupation, I need to go some
place when there is a fog. Don’t worry, I’m already used to it. Then, see you tomorrow.”
After saying this quickly, before Emi and the rest could stop her, Amane disappeared into the fog covered night.
Alas=Ramus, who had finally stopped crying, as well as the three people, Emi, Chiho and Suzuno, watching Amane
who had disappeared into the fog with some worry.
And in this dense fog which made people uneasy, a beam of light which looked like it came from the lighthouse shone past quickly.
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