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Table of
Contents

The Demon King’s Superior, Realising Her Own Immaturity

Prologue

Chapter 1 : Demon King, Eating Dinner with His Superior

Chapter 2 : Hero, Revealing Her Uneasiness Towards the Future

Chapter 3 : Demon King, Making a Huge Decision

Chapter 4 : Demon King and Hero, Standing in the Demon World

Author, Afterword – AND YOU --

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 The Demon King’s Superior, Realising
Her
Own Immaturity

The morning air at the end of February was still very cold.

In the past month, Kisaki would make a detour every three days for a
certain purpose.

“It’s not open yet? They’re taking such a long time to prepare.”

After confirming that there was no progress that day, Kisaki left that
place.

“Charging only one hundred yen for this, convenience stores are also
a scary business.”

Kisaki drank the drip coffee she bought at the convenience store next
to her destination and frowned as she did so.

Honestly, it tasted so good that it did not feel like a one hundred yen
coffee bought from a convenience store.

There were many coffee shops on the streets which naturally sell
their coffee for at least five hundred yen, but the taste of their coffee
was worse than this.

“Perhaps this world still has a decent level of judgement.”

Kisaki drank the one hundred yen coffee created by large companies,
making use of their money and manpower advantage, and looked
back at her target which caused her to make a detour.

Next to the convenience store was a shop which had displayed a

rental advertisement from a real estate broker one month ago.

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Kisaki wished to start a business on her own as a barman, so she had
taken a tour of that shop out of interest.

After the real estate agent heard about Kisaki’s purpose for viewing
that shop, he began to talk about how this place used to be a food
and beverage store and how it would reduce the costs of opening a
business.

In addition, the building the store was located at was still new, and
the surrounding area was being redeveloped into a residential area.
As the old houses gradually made way for high rise apartments, the
residents will likely be part of the customer base in the future.

For an area near Shibuya district, Sasazuka, the space and rental was
very attractive.

However, Kisaki’s instincts honed from working in a large corporation

started to ring in alarm. There must be some reason

behind such good conditions. Therefore, to clarify the reasons for

this feeling she had, Kisaki went to view the shop a second time and
decided to give up on this shop.

Some time passed after that and the real estate agent gave her a
polite call to notify Kisaki that the store had already been rented out.

“That’s regretful, but I can only say that it wasn’t meant to be, if
there are other recommended shop spaces, please do not hesitate to
contact me.”

Not feeling much regret, Kisaki hung up the phone, but she could not
help but be concerned about the kind of store which would be
opened there, so she would occasionally make a detour to check on
it.

“When I talked about this with Maa-kun’s friend……I mentioned that

this place was more suited as a beauty salon.”
Based on Kisaki’s observations, this store, which used to be a coffee
shop, had undergone a major renovation.

The interior of the shop could not be seen, but the person who
rented this store seemed to have decided that the customer seating
area needed a complete overhaul.

“The appearance of the sign resembles that of a chain store, but I

can’t stop staring at it.”

Just as Kisaki was mumbling to herself.

“Ah----! Isn’t that figure Shop Manager Kisaki!”

“Tsk!”

Kisaki might have forgotten it long ago, but Sarue did live nearby.

“……Meeting such a troublesome guy this early in the morning.”

“I am confident that no matter what happens today, I would be able

to bear it with a smile!”

“You’re noisy.”

Thanks to this man who spoke with his usual frivolity, Kisaki lost all
her motivation instantly.

But Kisaki was the type of person who would not let any opportunity
slip by her even after experiencing setbacks.

“Hey, Sarue, I want to ask you something.”

“Please do!”

“I remember you live nearby. What kind of store will open there in
the future?”

“There? Oh, you’re talking about that shop space huh.”

Because of some reasons in the past, Sarue also knew that Kisaki was
interested in that shop space and was thinking about starting her
own business.

“Thinking about it, I did receive a flyer some time back. It seems like
it’s going to be a pizza shop.”

“……Pizza shop?”

“Yeah, it should be Domino’s Pizza. I remember that they are the

only ones who offer one free pizza by purchasing from their store?”

Sarue’s answer felt like a bolt from the blue, causing Kisaki to lower
her head in depression.

“Haah----I see, so there was still that method.”

“W, what’s wrong?”

Kisaki sighed forcefully and crushed her empty coffee paper cup.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Kisaki answered this, but her mental state was very agitated.

When Maou’s friend Ashiya analysed this shop space, he had

mentioned that very little people would loiter in this area, and the
nearby residents were mostly made up of singles who would not go
to restaurants that often, even the road conditions were not ideal for
the gathering of customers. At that time, Kisaki shared his opinions.

However, given these conditions, they just have to open a store

which would not be affected even if customers did not come.

If it was a pizza store emphasised on deliveries, even if the store

itself did not attract that many customers, if they could hire enough
delivery staff, they could conduct business with the whole area.
In an area with a lot of singles, it would be easy to find workers, and
its location was quite good, decreasing the rental costs of the store.

In addition, Domino’s Pizza offered a surprising promotion of buy

two get one free if people came to buy from their store, this strategy
was very effective.

Even if they felt that it was a little troublesome, the nearby residents
might make the trip because of free pizza.

This business model was a perfect match for this store.

“I am starting to feel uneasy.”

“Why? If you don’t mind, you can talk to me about anything……”

“Talking to you would only make me more uneasy, so just shut up.”

“Got it!”

Kisaki ignored Sarue who was absolutely obedient to her, thinking

deeply.

She had such a narrow judgement, did she truly have the right to say
such big words like starting her own business?

No matter how skilled she was at running a store, she was only
relying on the system which MgRonalds had built over the years.

Was she lacking the ability to start a business from scratch?

But Kisaki did not know what she was lacking.

Sarue, who was smiling widely next to her, irritated Kisaki. As she
grew closer to getting her own store --- which she saw as her own
castle, she became more and more short tempered.

Even the store she had grown used to seeing had turned into
something which looked completely different.
“Then I’m leaving first! Don’t be too discouraged! You’ll definitely
find a better shop space!”

“……Yeah.”

For unknown reasons, Kisaki honestly accepted the encouragement

from Sarue, a person who would normally just irritate others.

She opened the employee entrance located at the back and gritted
her teeth, as if doing so would change her mood.

At that moment, Kisaki’s phone rang. She glanced at the name

shown on the screen and showed a perplexed expression.

This was a call from the Section Chief, who was one level higher than
the Area Manager.

It was not as if they had never met before, but this situation was very
rare, so Kisaki picked up the call, feeling perplexed.

“Hello, this is Kisaki. Yes, good morning……eh? Afternoon? Yes, there

are enough people at the store today, so I can go over today……eh?”

To Kisaki, this was a sudden situation.

“……Me?”

This happened one week before the release of the results of Maou
Sadao’s full-time employment exam.
 Prologue

In the past, there was a guardian diety known as Asura.

Asura was originally a benevolent diety in ancient India, then it was

merged into Buddhism. The most famous one in Japan would be the
Asura statue with three heads and six arms at Kofuku Temple, which
had been designated as a National Treasure.

‘Three heads and six arms’ referred to a buddhiststatue having three

faces and six arms, and later on, the meaning was extended to refer
to someone whose working ability was several times better than
others.

Currently, in the MgRonalds at Tokyo, Shibuya district, Sasazuka,

there was a man who was working so actively that it felt like he had
three heads and six arms.

“A, amazing……the fries are glowing……”

The fries which he scooped up from the oil were shining like gold.

“The metal plate on the platform had not been changed before,
right……?”

The metal plate of the covered grill used to grill the burger meat
patties-----commonly known as the platform was as good as new
after he had cleaned it.

“The customers who looked exhausted when they first entered look
so energetic when they leave. It’s as if they were completely
different people……was anything strange added to the ingredients
today?”
After the customers ate the meals which were prepared by him, they
left, filled with energy.

After thinking back on these abnormal situations which were

advantageous for the business, the employees realised that all of this
was related to the A grade employee known as Maou Sadao.

“Scary……”

All the employees at the store in front of Hatagaya Station knew that
Maou Sadao was a person who took his work seriously.

But his performance today was off the charts.

They thought he was at the counter, but after taking their eyes off
him for a moment, they would find him grilling meat at the grill,
when the burger meat patties were done grilling, he had already
finished preparing five sets of drinks, when they noticed that he was
wearing a safety helmet and going out for deliveries, at the next
moment, he was already at the MdCafe on the second floor
preparing coffee based on the customers’ preferences.

“Is, is there something wrong with my eyes today. I feel like there are
a few Maou-sans today.”

One of the veteran employees, Ooki Akiko, kept rubbing her eyes.

“Maa-kun only used the third Moped for deliveries today, but the gas
has not decreased……there shouldn’t be enough time for him to fill
up the tank……”

Kawada Takefumi, who just returned from a delivery, said this as he

looked pale.

“Yusa-san, could it be……”

Amongst these people, the one who was especially worried about
Maou was of course, Sasaki Chiho.

Maou was obviously acting strange today.

For some of the situations, rather than saying that it was off the
charts, it was more like a supernatural phenomenon. She was
worried if Maou used a power related to his ‘true identity’.

Therefore, she turned to her important friend who was the only one
in the store who knew about Maou’s ‘secret’-----also a reliable older
sister and her junior at work, Yusa Emi.

However, Emi shook her head with a bitter expression, and spoke in
a volume which only Chiho could hear,

“I do not feel any demonic magic.”

“That’s an evasive lie, right?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Currently, Maou was like a saint in the Bible who caused miracles, all
the equipment touched by him were maintained and cleaned
perfectly, and with just one burger and one portion of fries, all the
fatigued customers would become energetic when they leave.

If Maou was not using demonic magic, then the only possibility was
that Emi had used holy magic.

“No matter the form, demonic magic would harm the human body.
This time, all this is due to the power of humans.”

“Humans have amazing potential.”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

Maou was actually a demon from a foreign world, so it had nothing
to do with the potential of humans. And in actual fact, his Asura-like
work performance was unrelated to human potential at all.

At this moment, their superior walked over with a heavy expression.

“Ah, Kisaki-san.”

The Shop Manager of the MgRonalds in front of Hatagaya Station,

Kisaki Mayumi.

Kisaki, who had a pretty appearance, looked solemnly at Maou who

had been possessed by Asura.

“He hasn’t collapsed from exhaustion yet.”

“Yet?”

“With his movements, it would be a miracle if he could last half a

day. Look.”

Kisaki nudged her chin in Maou’s direction and Chiho and Emi looked
towards the fries which Maou had prepared.

““Ah.””

The fries which were emitting a golden glow just now had reverted
to being normal fries.

Upon closer examination, the appearance of the grill looked as old as

usual.

The customers returned home quietly after they had eaten, reverting
to what was usually observed.

“Eh? What’s going on?”

At the same time, they discovered that Maou’s face had lost its glow.
It did not take a turn for the worse but lost its glow.

The Asura who looked like he had three heads had changed back to
the usual Maou Sadao.

That was what Maou usually looked like, but compared to his Asura
state, it still looked as if he had lost some colour in his face.

When it was ten o’ clock at night, as Chiho and Emi prepared to leave
the workplace……

“Ma, Maou-san? Are you alright?”

“It’s because you pushed yourself too hard in the day, right?”

Chiho’s and Emi’s faces showed frantic and irritated reactions

respectively, but this was to be expected.

Because Maou’s presence was so weak that even the MgRonalds

bright red uniform looked like it was losing colour.

“Ah~ Chi-chan, thanks for your hard work today. Yeah, I’m fine. I still
have to work for two more hours.”

Even if Chiho talking to him caused some colour to return to his face,
Maou’s situation still looked precarious. It was as if he

would lose all his energy once he let his guard down.

“Be careful on your way home. Emi, make sure to send her home
properly.”

“Ah, alright……”

“With the current state of affairs, Chiho-chan is much more reliable

compared to you.”

It was not known if Maou heard their replies, he returned to his work
weakly.
“What’s wrong with Maou-san……”

“……I have a rough idea.”

Chiho asked worriedly, and Emi seemed to have sensed the reason
for Maou’s abnormal behaviour.

But before Emi could speak----

“Haah, leave the rest to me.”

Kisaki, who appeared again, placed her hands on both their

shoulders.

“Taking care of employees who are suffering from work related

stress is also the responsibility of the shop manager.”

Kisaki, who was standing next to Emi, looked at her in the eye, and
spoke with an emphasis on the word ‘taking care’.

“……I understand. Then I’ll leave the rest to you.”

“A, alright.”

Emi lowered her gaze slightly, and Chiho nodded while feeling
perplexed.

“Yeah……take care on the way home.”

After saying this, Kisaki followed Maou up to the second floor, and
after Emi and Chiho watched her leave----

“Let’s go back.”

Together, they stepped onto the streets of Sasazuka which were

enveloped in darkness, into the weakening winter season.

The night wind blew into their muscles which were tired out from
work. Chiho shivered slightly while Emi sighed.
“Maou-san is probably worried about Camio-san……no matter what, I
hope he can be his usual self soon.”

Even if she had begun to walk away from it, Chiho still turned back
and looked towards the store.

“Yeah.”

Emi replied distractedly.

Chiho did not say anything wrong, but in a completely different

sense, this could be considered a very dangerous situation.

To Maou, this was a serious situation, but this also applied to Emi,
especially to Ente Isla.

“Irritating.”

In a way, the developments till now were advantageous for Emi.

However, if there were any miscalculations this time, the situation

might become unsalvageable.

“I never expected that the flow of the events in the world would
hinge on something like this.”

“Maa-kun.”

With normal life experiences, it was probably possible to guess what

the other party wanted to say next based on their tone and the
timing.

Ever since Maou came to Japan, this might be the first time he
personally experienced the feeling of wanting to avoid a certain
topic.

So just like a criminal who was about to be sentenced, he gathered

up all his energy and answered----
“Yes……”

“I want to discuss some things with you, can you spare some time
after work?”

However, the words coming out from Kisaki’s well formed lips were
completely unexpected.

“...........Eh?”

“I hope you can spend one hour with me. Considering the time, the
location would be a nearby izakaya. None of my irritating childhood
friends will be there this time, so you don’t have to worry about
that.”

“Oh.”

It was a little unexpected, but Kisaki probably wanted to talk to

Maou at the different location to avoid Chiho and Emi who had
returned home first, and Kawada and Akiko who were still working
downstairs.

However, as if Kisaki had seen through Maou’s thoughts, she said

something unexpected again.

“Ah, it is a discussion, but the contents are very personal. You don’t
have to take it too seriously, just see it as your superior treating you
to dinner while you listen to her complain. Oh my, that would make
you unwilling to go, would it?”

“No, erhm, not at all……I am working a later shift tomorrow, and I

would have needed to make dinner after I go home today, so

I’m happy to accompany you.”

These were Maou’s true thoughts.

“I see, that’s great. Anyway, let’s talk about it again after closing the
shop.”

After Kisaki nodded in satisfaction, she entered the Employee Room

immediately.

“It can’t be that she wanted to talk about that, right?”

She said that she wanted to complain to someone in private, but

that might be only an excuse and her true purpose would be to talk
about that.

However, Kisaki did not do things in such a roundabout way.

“Haah……I don’t want to go home and cook today, so I’ll just accept
this invitation with gratitude.”

Troubling over it too much was meaningless.

If he did not set strict standards for himself, Maou would probably
have been unable to do his usual work today.

“Haah, this is torturous.”

“Hey, Chiho-chan. Were you very nervous when you took your high
school entrance exams?”

“Why are you asking this so suddenly?”

“It’s nothing much, it’s just that, isn’t the Demon King acting rather
strangely today?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m guessing that he’s restless because the results of the full-time
employment exam is going to be released soon…… however,

I have never felt nervous while waiting to hear if I have been hired or
not, so I’m rather curious about what it feels like.”
“Ah…… but, it is nerve-wrecking after all. The results of the mock
exam showed that I had a chance of entering Sasahata High

School, but it was not as if the chances were very high, so I still took
the entrance exams for some private schools as a fall-back.”

“What does fall-back mean?”

Emi asked for the meaning of this unfamiliar term. Chiho was a little
suprirsed, then immediately realised the reason and answered.

“Uh, it’s considered an exam specific term. In case we were rejected

from our first choice school, everyone will take the exams for their
second and third choice school at the same time.”

“Oh, that’s why it’s called backup.”

After understanding the meaning of this term which was very rarely
used, Emi looked rather depressed for some reason.

“Fall-back huh…… if everything had a fall-back, it would be very

reassuring.”

“Yusa-san?”

Perhaps she sensed that Emi was emitting a gloomy aura, Chiho
asked this uneasily.

After Emi noticed this, she answered quickly in a cheerful tone,

“Oh my, I am helping to prepare for the Battle to Defeat God, but I’m
still rather free, right? So I was thinking if I should study a bit since I
have the time for it, but the Demon King had to act like this during
this time. With that, wouldn’t I think that taking exams seems like a
very arduous experience?”

Emi knew that she was forcing it too much, but not only did Chiho
believe it wholeheartedly, her eyes sparkled and she spoke
with a smile,

“Ah! Are you planning to further your education in Japan?”

Chiho remembered that when Emi felt lost about what she should be
doing in her life, she had went to the house of her junior at her
previous workplace --- the university student Shimizu Maki to
research about Japanese universities.

“I, I haven’t made such solid plans yet. However, if we win the future,
we still have to think about what happens next, right?”

Emi was speaking faster than usual.

She did not know if Chiho realised this.

She could not confirm this fact, but in the next instant, Chiho
suddenly grabbed Emi’s arm, pulling Emi towards herself.

“What? Why are you suddenly acting like this?”

“Eheheh, I’m a little happy. It feels like Yusa-san is gradually heading

towards my desired direction.”

“Eh? What is that supposed to mean. Let me say this first, I haven’t
given up completely on killing the Demon King, okay?”

“Yes yes yes, I know that. I did hear someone mention before that
they did not want to fight anymore though.”

Even if Emi knew her words were not convincing at all, if she did not
say this, it would feel like she was only dancing in the palm of Chiho’s
hand, and that was an irritating feeling.

Even so, Emi did not push Chiho away, she just stuck with Chiho like
this, walking on Koshu Kaido.

“But after this, Maou-san……”

Perhaps it was because of this position they were in, this sentence
was not drowned out by the sounds of the cars moving past them,
transmitting into Emi’s ears clearly.

“Might increase his distance from us.”

There were probably a multitude of thoughts behind this nonchalant

sounding sentence.

This was unconfirmed, but she probably understood the meaning

behind Kisaki’s attitude and Emi’s question very well.

“Is that guy being dishonest to you again?”

So Emi acted like she did not know anything.

“Considering the current situation, this is an insignificant issue.”

Chiho played along with Emi and said this, but she was half-serious
about it.

So Emi laughed, and Chiho also laughed after pretending she was
angry about it. Both of them intentionally avoided elaborating more
on what they said earlier.

This was something which happened yesterday.

Situated in a corner of Tokyo, Shibuya ward, at the sixty year old

wooden apartment Villa Rosa Sasazuka, there was a letter inside the
mailbox of Room 201. This letter created a huge ripple in the futures
of the people who were gathered at the apartment.

The sender was the Tokyo Headquarters Human Resources

department of Japan’s MgRonalds Holdings.

The receipient was Maou Sadao.

There was only a normal looking A4 piece of paper inside a stiff
envelope with the company’s name printed on it.

『Maou Sadao-san

We sincerely thank you for participating in our company’s full-time

employment exam.

After careful consideration, you have not been selected.

As there were many applicants and a limited number of positions, we

regret that we could not respond positively to your expectations.

We hope you are understanding of this.

Lastly, we wish for Maou-san’s good health, and hope you can
continue to contribute actively as an employee of one of our
branches.

Hiring Manager Kojima』

 Chapter 1 : Demon King, Eating
Dinner with His Superior

Maou quietly entered Room 201 of Villa Rosa Sasazuka, which was
still very cold.

After turning on the kitchen light, a dim yellow light penetrated the
old light cover, illuminating the six tatami room slightly.

The state of the room was similar to when Maou just arrived in
Japan, but a huge cardboard box was placed in the corner of the
room which was the furthest from the light.

Maou peeked towards that cardboard box and sighed lightly.

“……It’s lucky that you lived.”

Inside the cardboard box was a round fat chicken……correction, it

was a family member who had raised Maou, a powerful demon in
the Demon World, Camio.

“……Fwee…shu……fwee……shu……”

Maou sat in front of the cardboard box and listened to that weak but
stable snoring.

After remembering that the notice was still in the rubbish bin beside
the box, Maou could not help but sigh.

“Haah……what am I lacking?”

Honestly speaking, he had not expected to fail.

The selections at the various stages had gone smoothly, and as his
opponents disappeared one after another, Maou made it to the final
selection.
Unlike the current batch of university graduates, Maou and the
others took part in the selection to convert from part-time
employees to full-time employees, and the last stage was an
interview with the Headquarters staff.

To have an interview was obvious, even if it was a small group

discussion, Maou was confident that he could assume different roles,
and he did not neglect to brush up his knowledge on the industry.

Amongst those who participated in the training, less than one

quarter of them were selected to take part in the interview with the
staff.

Maou had remained until the end, and this made him believe that
the direction his efforts took him in was not wrong.

But he still failed.

Obviously, the company would not publicise their selection criteria

and would not notify the reasons for failure.

“What am I lacking……”

To avoid waking Camio up, he lowered his volume as much as

possible.

No matter how much he griped, reality would not change because of

this.

But his efforts until now had been rejected by a thin piece of paper,
this was very depressing after all.

“I’ve been like this recently.”

No matter what he did, nothing went according to his wishes.

If it had ended like the incident with Adramelechinus’ Demonic
Spear, with things ending well on all three sides, it did not matter
even if things had not developed according to his wishes.

However, there was no failure more serious than failing the full-time
employee hiring exam.

“……I’ll take a bath tomorrow morning before work.”

The fact that he had been unable to achieve the goal which he had
set since he started working at MgRonalds caused the Demon

King from a foreign world to harbour heavy feelings.

Just as Maou, carrying those heavy feelings, got up slowly to prepare

for bed, he discovered that his futon was on the tatami.

“Oh my, I didn’t keep it this morning?”

With his foggy mind, Maou tried his best to remember, but the shock
caused by rejection letter he received this morning was too huge, so
he could not remember what he had done.

The mattress was not folded, and the blanket was messed up, so he
probably had not touched it after he got up.

“If Ashiya was around, he would probably scold me for being

undisciplined. It has been a tiring day, so I should just go to sleep……
hm, strange?”

Maou suddenly realised that his pillow had disappeared.

“Hm? Where did the pillow go? And my sleeping clothes have
disappeared too, eh?”

If he woke up and left the house without cleaning up, then his pillow
and sleeping clothes should still be around, but he could not find
them after looking around.
“I only kept my pillow and sleeping clothes? Is that even possible?”

Feeling perplexed, Maou opened one of the closet doors.

34
“Ah, you’re back. Welcome

back.” “Uwoahhhhh?”

Seeing that Urushihara Hanzo, who had been occupying the closet
until recently, was lying down inside, Maou screamed and fell back
onto the floor.

“You’re overreacting too much.”

Urushihara moved the headphones to his neck and complained

to Maou who had screamed and fallen back onto the floor.

“I was almost scared to death! Why didn’t you say anything when
you’re back! I thought a thief broke in!”

“Since you’re a Demon King, then don’t be afraid of thieves. I didn’t

realise that you returned at all.”

“I did not want to wake Camio up, so I came in quietly! You probably
did not hear because you were wearing headphones…… then again,
what’s with those headphones?”

Rather than asking about Urushihara being in the closet when he

logically should not be in Japan, Maou was more concerned about
the unfamiliar headphones.

Urushihara’s notebook was emitting blue light within the closet, yet
there was no connecting wire between the headphones and the
computer.

“Oh, this? These are wireless headphones. I ordered it with Jungle

when I returned in the daytime. The sound quality is great.”

“It feels like it has been a long time since I last seen you do such a
thing! By the way, why did you come back! And why did you not let
me know about it first!”

35
“Does it matter, even since we found the demonic spear, there aren’t
many things to do there. The demons who survived have gathered at
the Central Continent and the Malebranches are managing them
very well, so I thought of coming back occasionally to relax and live a
lazy life.”

“You……eh? Then again, what happened to be demonic magic which

was originally in the closet……”

“Oh, that was taking up too much space, so I put them at the end of
the corridor. The futon which had been in the way was also thrown
on the tatami, yeah?”

“You’ve gone too far!”

Maou was angry at Urushihara who had used his credit card without
permission and pushed his work to the surbordinates, but at the
same time, he felt rather nostalgic about it.

“…………Gufwee………guphee.”

The two of them were this noisy, but Camio, who was squirming
in the box, did not wake up at all.
※
Generally, the Battle to Defeat God was a plan to attack Heaven who
established their base on the blue moon and were controlling the
history of Ente Isla from the shadows.

To prepare for this battle, Maou and the others formulated a plan to
use the Demon Fortress in Ente Isla as a spaceship so they could
travel to Heaven.

For the Demon Fortress to fly, they needed to gather the four
legacies left behind by the Ancient Demon King Satan----Demon
Sword Nothung, Ginkan no Mado, Adramelechinus’ Demonic Spear,
and the Astral Gem.”

One of the items ‘Adramelechinus’ Demonic Spear’ had been used by

the people of the Northern Continent, turning it into a memorial of
the battle against the Demon King Army.

Emilia and the Demon King Satan, as well as the large group of
humans and demons who followed them, agreed to work together,
but they could not let the whole world know about their partnership.

If they snatched the demonic spear away, even if they defeated God
successfully, they might still plant embers of conflict in the human
world.

They were the spiritual symbols of the entire group, but Maou and
Emi, unable to help with the preparations for the Battle to

Defeat God, still worked in Sasazuka as usual.

Keeping it a secret from the two of them, Suzuno, together with

Lailah, Alberto and Lumark, the General of the Saint Aire Empire

Knights, negotiated with the capable leader of the Northern

Continent, Din Dem Urs, who was also a holder of one of the ‘Yesod’
fragments.

Din Dem Urs was an old acquaintance of Lailah, and from a personal
standpoint, she could understand the importance of the

Battle to Defeat God, so she promised to find a way for Suzuno and
the others to obtain the demonic spear.

The one who was responsible for openly obtaining the demonic
spear on the stage prepared by Din Dem Urs, was Sasaki Chiho.
With Din Dem Urs support, Chiho represented the Urs clan and took
part in the ‘Jirga’ event held to decide the ‘Enclosure

Leader’, the representative of the Northern Continent.

In the main event of the Jirga, the archery competition, Chiho

demonstrated archery skills which did not conform to what was
known about archery in Ente Isla. These techniques which which did
not belong to this world livened up the whole atmosphere.

According to the customs of the Jirga, Chiho, who won the event,
had to carry out the ‘ceremonial service’, and caused a miracle.

As if it was supporting Chiho’s ceremonial service, the demonic

magic belonging to Adramelech, who had already died, created an
ice spear which attracted everyone’s attention.

As the ice spear appeared, Suzuno and Lailah took the opportunity to
retrieve the actual demonic spear.

The Malebranche Chieftian, Libicocco, also used the illusion magic

which his clan specialised in to conjour up an illusion of

Adramelech, causing a supernatural rumour to be spread around the

Northern Continent, saying that Adramelech had returned to retrieve
the demonic spear which had remained in the physical world.

With regards to this plan, Maou had been kept in the dark the whole
time, but as long as the results were good, everything else was
secondary.

Currently, they were only short of the ‘Astral Gem’ to gather all the
legacies.

After Chiho completed the important task in Ente Isla, she returned
to Japan. Then she unexpectedly discovered a heavily injured Camio
and brought him into her home for protection.
Because Camio was badly injured, he could not maintain his demon
form, but the enemies were still pursuing him, therefore the Sasaki
house was attacked by the spear belonging to Heaven’s guardian
angel Kamael.

A descendent of the Earth Sephirah, Ooguro Amane, had protected

Chiho and Camio, but after the demonic spear, the operation to
restrieve the last legacy, the Astral Gem, had not progressed at all.

This happened during the first half of March, when the winter
atmosphere had begun to gradually fade away.
※
“So what’s up? Your expression is so gloomy you know, could it be
that a thin paper notification that you failed the full-time
employment exam was enough to make you this depressed?”

Urushihara said this quietly from his position above Maou who was
sitting on the floor.

“It’s exactly that……is what I wanted to say, but I actually

experienced other setbacks tonight.”

“Actually being capable of making Demon King-sama so depressed,

what happened?”

“You’re noisy. To me, this is a double shock.”

Urushihara also knew that Maou had been treating full-time

employment as his goal since he came to Japan, so he could
understand that failing in the hiring exam was a huge shock to Maou.

Therefore, at the moment, Urushihara could not think of anything

else which could cause a similar amount of shock to Maou.
“Don’t tell anyone first alright……though the only people you might
leak it to are only Emi or Chi-chan.”

After Maou sighed with force, he said it.

“Kisaki-san is getting transferred.”

“Is that so.”

“…… Your reaction is too cold.”

From Maou’s standpoint, in some sense, this incident was more

serious than him failing in the exam.

The Shop Manager of the store in front of Hatagaya station, Kisaki

Mayumi, had received a transfer order.

To the store in front of Hatagaya station, it was a huge incident, as if

a pillar within the store had been pulled up.

Although Maou was irritated at Urushihara’s cold, or even uncaring

response----

“Isn’t this something normal?”

Urushihara replied thus with no change in his expression.

“Aren’t the employee of chain eateries frequently transferred to be

in charge of different branches? I’m not that familiar with

Shop Manager Kisaki, but for an outstanding person like her, it would
be more probable for her to encounter this situation.

Annual salary still needs to be considered, but at her age, it should

be about time for the more capable people to climb up the corporate
ladder.”

Maou looked up at Urushihara in surprise, and the latter humphed in

a disinterested manner,
“What kind of expression is that.”

“Uh, because even if you don’t work much, you were able to give a
mostly correct explanation, so I got surprised.”

“You can ask for my forgiveness after you have found out how
hardworking I am in Ente Isla. At that time, remember to include a
10,000 point Jungle point card.”

This was a common occurrence, Kisaki did say that.

The fact that Kisaki had not left the store in front of Hatagaya station
at all was the abnormal situation.

The scale of the store in front of Hatagaya station was smaller than
average, and before Kisaki started managing it, its revenue had
matched its scale.

However, after Kisaki became the shop manager, the revenue began
to rise rapidly.

After that the revenue brought in by the store in front of Hatagaya

station improved continuously and after the tenant upstairs left, an
opportunity to increase the scale of the branch was obtained.

Therefore, they were continuously selected to be the test branch to

introduce the various new business operations, the MdCafe and
delivery. In addition, Kisaki and the employees trained by her had
produced good results.
※
“I was probably targeted by the upper management because I did
too much. Whether it is in a good way or bad way.”

Kisaki shook the ice cubes inside her oolong tea and said this with a
wry smile.
“Targeted……”

In the next financial year, Kisaki would be transferred.

After hearing this shocking news, Maou, who could not hide how
shaken he was, could only respond on reflex.

“Thinking about it positively, I would probably rise quickly from now

on. Do you still remember the person I knew very well who came to
our store to cause trouble?”

It was a good thing, but Kisaki sounded very gloomy.

“How could I forget, Sentucky’s Manager Tanaka, right?”

Kisaki’s childhood friend, Sentucky’s Area Manager Tanaka Himeko,

an employee of what was considered their rival company.

She was also the superior of the Archangel Sariel a.k.a Sarue Mitsuki-
--- Sariel was Maou’s opponent in the same industry, regardless of
which identity he assumed.

“Just considering the career level, I would probably surpass her

greatly. Salary will not be increased by a lot that easily, but the
designation on my namecard will change, using a popular term, I
would become a big-shot.”

Tanaka Himeko was Kisaki’s lifelong rival and childhood friend, but
even if Kisaki’s mouth was torn open, she would not address the
other party as her friend.

The relationship between the two of them was so bad that once they
met, they would quarrel furiously over one casual action done by the
other party, but for unknown reasons, even if Kisaki had surpassed
her, she did not look happy at all.

“Then a bad way refers to……”

“I won’t be able to manage any branches anymore. I have not been
transferred to manage other branches or areas but to the C-
department.”

“C-department?”

コンシュマーインサイト. Translated literally, it would be

‘Consumer Insight’.

(T/N: The novel originally wrote Consumer Insight in katakana, and

then wrote it in Kanji later. So since it would not make sense to write
“Consumer Insight. Translated literally, it would be ‘Consumer
Insight’”, I just left the katakana as it is.)

This concept originated from the advertisement industry at the end

of the 20th century.

For businesses to build a more dynamic relationship with their

consumers, this concept had become an irreplaceable part of many
aspects of business operations.

The two terms ‘consumer’ and ‘insight’ would lead to this concept
being mixed up with marketing and business planning, but consumer
insight manages the stages before these.

In modern commerce, good quality products might not sell well, and
what sold well might not be of good quality.

In other words, true good quality might be hidden within the

products which do not sell well, and as long as it sells well, even if

it was not a high quality product, it might be considered a good

product.

Of course, there were exceptions to everything, and regardless of

industry, there would be extremely high quality products which
could garner huge support and sell well because of that.
However, for most businesses in the world, it was not as if they could
continue to operate as long as they were able to develop one
especially good product.

Other than the ironclad principle known as ‘seek your company’s

benefits at all costs’, the knowledge of operating a business was
always changing.

With mass marketing gradually becoming less applicable to modern

society, the job of the Consumer Insight Department was to research
what linked the consumers and businesses together, then pass the
results to various departments in the business, creating profits
indirectly.

The key to linking businesses and consumers might not be related to

the quality and price of the products.

For example, the actions taken by the business after a scandal would
directly affect the consumers’ willingness to buy from that business.

If the Management Team threw all their concerns out the window
and called for a press conference to apologise, it would only
decrease consumer confidence towards the product, negatively
affecting the business revenue.

On the other hand, if the business used social media and allowed
their public relations to use an official account to undergo a severe
lashing and fierce debate with the public relations of a rival
company, this would instantly spread on social media, which would
help improve the image of the business.

The first line of staff who would repeatedly conduct this kind of
analysis then feedback to the various areas of the business, this was
the job of the Consumer Insight Department.
Of course, the actual operations were not that simple, and the
department Kisaki would go to next would continuously research and
analyse what products, advertisements, actions, factors, attitude or
strategies should be used by the business to attract the attention of
the consumers, or to move away from being the focus of the
consumers.

Maou had attended the training to become a full-time employee, so

he knew the company’s organisational structure very well.

However, he never expected that a shop manager would suddenly be

transferred to the Consumer Insight Department, this surprised him
greatly.

“Didn’t our store try out many types of business operations before?”

“In a short amount of time, we introduced the MdCafe and delivery

services.”

“It seemed like the trial results have been acknowledged. In addition,
they wish to obtain on-site data from me. For the branches

I have managed, not only was there a low resignation rate, the
revenue was high, this was especially so for the store in front of

Hatagaya station. The new business operations achieved the target

business revenue in only half the time.”

When Maou was networking, he had heard of this.

“The Consumer Insight Department is a test department where the

average age is very low, it was not formed that long ago and the
department head is only a forty plus year old lady. I was supposed to
be transferred to take on the role of Area Manager, but she wanted
to rope in as much talent as possible, so she poached me……let’s eat
something first. I’m going to start praising myself now, so it’ll be very
awkward if no one’s eating.”
“Ah, I’m sorry, then I’m tucking in. Ah, please give me oolong
tea……no, elderflower tea would be better.”

Maou, who accidentally froze in place, started to nervously eat the

fried rice and nuggets which had arrived, and because he realised
that he was thirsty from how nervous he was, he asked the staff
member to refill his drinks.

“I heard about this before, but Maa-kun really doesn’t drink alcohol
as well.”

“The others don’t drink alcohol as well?”

“It’s not like they can’t hold their alcohol, but it seems like Kawacchi
and Aki-chan do not normally drink alcohol.”

“I guess there isn’t any alcohol which they especially want to drink
when they’re outside? Or that the alcohol they like to drink is really
expensive or something.”

“Kawacchi mentioned it before too. But as he normally rides a

motorbike, it isn’t convenient for him to drink alcohol in the first
place.”

“But Kisaki-san rarely drinks, right?”

“Hm……that’s right, Himeko mentioned it before, right? My face will

turn red once I drink alcohol. And it feels like if I drink alcohol today, I
would probably just complain without any restraint.”

Now that she mentioned it, Kisaki did say earlier that she wanted to
find someone to complain to.

And viewing this objectively, Kisaki was currently boasting about her
own promotion.
Not only was her hard work recognised, she was promoted from a
branch manager to an important business unit at a young age, it
might not be a ‘huge raise’, but there should be an increase in salary.

Even so, the transfer this time did not seem to be what Kisaki wished
for.

“What do you think of the Consumer Insight Department?”

Just as Maou was thinking of this, Kisaki suddenly asked this

question.

“I don’t think it suits you.”

So Maou answered honestly.

This caused Kisaki to laugh loudly with a cheerful expression which

she would never show in the store.

“Hahahahaha! I know right? You think so too, right? That’s right, it

doesn’t suit me at all. Of course, it’s not as if the members of the
Consumer Insight Department would trouble over consumer insight
related issues everyday, but there are still many tasks to handle, how
should I say it.”

“Kisaki-san hates not seeing the customers’ faces right.”

“That’s right! That’s exactly it!”

She had not drunk any alcohol, but Kisaki was very excited.

He had not heard it from her, but Kisaki should be 27 or 28 years old
this year.

For a working member of society, she was still considered very

young.
Kisaki always gave others the impression that she was an aloof
person at work, so Maou felt that this was the first time he saw her
give off an atmosphere which matched her age.

“At first, when I heard this news, I thought I was not suited for it. No,
because the company believed I was suited for this role, they made
this arrangement, so I do not plan to deny their judgement.”

The fact that she felt that she was unsuitable and whether she was
really suitable or not were two different issues.

Kiskai knew this very well, which was why she was so euphemistic
about it.

“I understood this principle, but when it really happened to me, I still

have to think about it.”

“Think about what?”

“I mentioned my dream to you before, right?”

In front of Maou, Chiho and Sarue, Kisaki had said that her dream
was to open her own bar.

“I love to work at the front line, and even if I’m unwilling to admit it, I
know that just this is not enough. For my dream, this is a process
which must be gone through.”

“A process which must be gone through……”

Maou had always thought that Kisaki would never feel this emotion.

But he could only see one thing shown on her face.

Her uneasiness towards the future.

“Ah----seriously! Maa-kun, if a good product is made after a lot of
care and effort, the customers will keep coming to buy it, this kind of
world will arrive one day, right?”

“Eh? Ah, yeah.”

“Maa-kun! Do you prefer grilled chicken skewers flavoured with salt

or teriyaki?”

“Eh? If, if I had to pick one, it should be teriyaki flavour.”

“I like it salted!”

“Uh, but the saltiness from the salted flavour would only overpower
the taste of the chicken, right?”

“For the teriyaki flavour, there is only sweetness. And teriyaki

chicken tastes much worse compared to salted chicken.”

As the two of them were talking, Kiskai used her authority as the
superior to order honey chicken wings.

“Even between you and me, we were unable to achieve a common

understanding over such a simple thing! What exactly is a good
product? What exactly is managing a business all about!”

“……Either way, I can only pray that my first taste of honey chicken
wings tastes good.”

“That’s right, that’s exactly it! We have to motivate consumers into

trying an unknown product! In this era of economic deflation where
it’s difficult to convince people to spend money, how should one run
a business. Even an answer obtained after careful thinking might be
overturned three hours later. Ah~ can I truly become independent
like this!”
After that, the two of them engaged in a heated debate when the
honey chicken wings arrived, but because it was rather late, they
went their separate ways after their chat.

“There’s not much time left, but I’ll be in your care.”

Until the end, Kisaki did not ask if Maou had been hired as a full-time
employee.

Only this sentence she said at their parting, stabbed deeply into
Maou’s heart.
※
“It’s already late, don’t mention things like chicken wings or chicken
skewers.”

“Those are your only thoughts after hearing all that?”

“Then what do you want me to say? It’s not like I have much
thoughts on Shop Manager Kisaki.”

The reason why family members were unable to understand work

troubles was because of the difference of how invested they were in
it.

“Then what do you want me to say?”

“Just provide some lipservice, consider it a price to offset that pair of

headphones. I don’t know how much it costs, but allowing you to
offset it with just this should be a good deal, right?”

“Oh~ it is a rather good deal. If it was Ashiya, he would probably

gripe about it for ten days.”

Even without looking, Maou knew that Urushihara was smiling.

“Haah, it’s the same everywhere. You should know very well that
everything won’t always go your way in this world, right? Even my
life did not go the way I wished.”

“I can’t believe that you would say such a thing so shamelessly when
you’re clearly living off the money earned by other people.”

“NEETs aren’t satisfied with their current situation. We are always

finding opportunities to show our abilities to move away from this
situation. It’s just that the occasion or opportunity would never come
and we’re too lazy to actively chase after it.

NEETs would live their lives while hating themselves who are like
this.”

“At least be a little guilty when you’re saying that. If you dislike it,
you should express it, else it won’t be convincing at all.”

“If I act like I don’t like it, then both parties would only look bad. Do
you know what is the meaning of being considerate?”

“You’re really shameless, you know.”

“Yeah. So, I feel that it’s about time I talk to you about this.”

From next to Maou’s face, the movement of Urushihara leaving the

closet was felt.

“Maou, isn’t it about time you gave up on Japan? Do you think this is
the time to be talking about full-time employment or Shop

Manager Kisaki?”

Urushihara was speaking seriously.

“Demon King-sama had gone through a lot of hard times until now,
so I will not brush aside your hobbies, but hobbies are hobbies, and
interests are interests. To become a full-time employee in Japan, is
that truly needed in your life right now?”

“……”

“I enjoy living in Japan a lot too. If this is considered a holiday villa,

then this apartment isn’t that bad. As for Sasaki Chiho and

Suzuki Rika, there’s nothing bad in meeting up occasionally and

chatting merrily with them, but are these things which are absolutely
needed? Even if it becomes a relationship where only one greeting
card is sent per year, no one would feel troubled by it, right? The
only thing I can say to you right now is that it’s about time for you to
cut your ties with Japan and return to Ente Isla.”

“……”

“If Maou’s reasons for being unwilling to let go of Japan are only
Sasaki Chiho and Shop Manager Kisaki, then all the more you should
be doing so. Currently, there should be other people you should be
paying more attention to. Ah, but……”

Urushihara bumped his fist against his palm.

“If you no longer care about things over there and decided to place
more priority on this side, then it doesn’t matter. But it’s not like
that, right?”

“……You’re really merciless when you speak.”

“You’re the one who asked for it.”

Urushihara stepped on the tatami and squatted in front of the box

which Camio was sleeping in.

“The only obstruction left is Emilia, isn’t it?”

“Don’t call her an obstruction, you’ll get killed.”

“She is an obstacle. We are demons from the Demon World, and
behind her, there are still Emerada, Lumark, Alberto and Bell.

We will be unable to reach an understanding in the end. In the near

future, at most within one year, this current comfortable
environment would end. And defeating Ignora is the decision which
you and Emilia made together, right?”

After losing a common enemy and goal, separation would be next.

In addition, the relationship between both sides was not that good in
the first place.

Once they separate and go their own ways, it would not take long for
them to go back to pointing their swords at each other.

“By the way, if you wish to depend on a child to maintain the

relationship, there will still be a limit. I am a living example of this.”

Urushihara’s parents.

Regardless of the reason, Ignora and Sataniel, who had the same
ideals, still cut their ties with each other in the end, pointing their
swords at one another.

Even when their biological son Lucifer existed, the two of them still
went their separate ways.

Based on this, Maou’s and Emi’s ‘child’, Alas=Ramus, should be

unable to maintain the relationship between the two of them.

“Do you know how your parents broke up?”

“I said this before, but I don’t remember most of the things from that
time. Honestly speaking, I can barely remember their appearances,
but…… the one who showed me familial affection at the end, should
be Sataniel.”
“Showed familial affection?”

“He probably…… protected me.”

“That’s vague.”

“I already said that I don’t remember. When Malacoda joined the

Demon King Army and we entered the Satanasarc for the first time,
memories like that appeared in my mind, but that only pissed me off.
That’s right, it was just a feeling. I did not recall anything concrete, or
perhaps I really wanted to forget. Either way, I ended up with
Sataniel. I wonder who Alas=Ramus will stay with afterwards.”

“I don’t want to fight over custody. The men would usually lose.”

“By the way, using situations in Japan to avoid the main point for just
about any issue, this method is overused.”

“Noisy.”

“Camio doesn’t have much time left, you know? You should put his
mind at ease.”

“This is the only thing I don’t want to hear from you.”

Maou stood up as well and went to Camio’s side.

“Hey, hard worker from Ente Isla. Camio had been looking for the
Astral Gem in the Demon World, right? Why did he end up like this?”

“Who knows. Thinking about it normally, he probably found the

object, then was stopped by Kamael and lost in battle, but in this
explanation, a few things would not make sense.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them looked at the snoring old demon in the cardboard
box and said at the same time,
““If he had really fought with Kamael, it would be impossible for him
to return alive.””

Kamael was a Guardian Angel from Heaven, so his fighting ability

should be similar to Gabriel, who was also a Guardian Angel.

And before Maou merged with Acies, he had been no match for
Gabiel even when he regained his Demon King form.

Camio may be a great demon who was much more powerful

compared to normal demons despite his old age, but at most, he was
slightly stronger than the Malebranche Chieftains.

Kamael and Camio should not know each other, so if that angel with
overwhelming power was to encounter Camio on the battlefield,
there was no reason for him to not take the life of this elderly
soldier.

In addition, he even went as far as to come to Japan to pursue

Camio, was it possible for him to run away with his tail between his
legs without fighting back at all just because his attack had been
blocked by Ooguro Amane?

“That is Kamael’s spear, isn’t it?”

“It should be. If Camio can wake up soon, things would be much
simpler, but it’s useless to talk about this now. Did Amane-san and
Sasaki Chiho say anything about it?”

“Both of them said that they did not see Kamael.”

“Oh…… then that’s strange.”

“Either way, we can’t let our guard down now, so I discussed it with
Emi to try her best to overlap her work shifts with Chichan’s.”

“……”
When Maou spoke, it was as if the conversation from a few minutes
ago had not happened at all, this caused Urushihara to show an
expression as if he was looking down on Maou.

“You have something to say about that?”

“Haah, if you wish to make use of her, then I guess you should make
full use of the opportunity while you still can?”

“Seriously, you better not think that I have not thought about it at
all.”

“I’m not that bothered by it.”

“Hey.”

“In a short amount of time, we had retrieved three items out of the
four legacies of the Ancient Demon King Satan, and Heaven had not
taken any action during this time. I don’t know about their situation,
but I can only say that we had gotten lucky. The retrieval of the last
legacy would be much harder compared to when the demonic spear
was retrieved, you should be prepared for this.”

“Thinking about it, this should be much more straightforward

instead.”

When they were retrieving one of the legacies, the Adramelechinus’

Demonic Spear, they had to continually consider the situation of the
human world.

In the end, the situation developed to the point which they had to
depend on Chiho’s courage alone, this caused Maou, who did not
know the contents of the plan until the end, to almost faint in shock.

“If someone comes to hinder us, we’ll just have to send them flying,
right? As long as Acies and I work together, even one hundred
Kamaels will not be our match.”
“Things should not be that simple. Even if there is a fight, the
location of the fight would also be a problem. You probably do not
wish to cause a huge battle to occur in Japan, yeah? But even if you
fight in Ente Isla, there are also a lot of people in the

Central Continent who do not understand the situation. Even if

you’re merged with Acies, if someone detects a 『Demon King
level 』 of demonic magic when you’re fighting, a lot of
humans might come running to the Central Continent then.”

“Then we can only consider using the 『 Gate 』 to transfer the

enemy to someplace like the extreme south to continue the fight.”

“This method sounds unexpectedly realistic, so it doesn’t sound good

at all, either way, the situation had changed so much that we would
at least have to do that much. The one mobilised this time seems to
be Kamael only, but including Raguel, there are still many
troublesome angels.”

“Gabriel said that there aren’t many useful people in Heaven, but
what is the actual situation there? The total population seems to be
five thousand people, but it’s not like all of them can fight, right? Not
including you and those Heavenly Troops, the ones we met so far
and have names are only Sariel, Gabriel, Raguel and Kamael. It feels
a little strange……hm?”

At this moment, the phone in Maou’s pocket starting to vibrate.

“Is it a message? It’s already so late……huh, Emi?”

The sender was Emi----

『I’m sorry, I didn’t wake you up, did I?』

But not only was her tone strangely polite, the contents----
『I might be overthinking this, but if you’re still awake, then quickly
take a look at this.』

Other than this sentence, there were two website links.

“Hey, Urushihara, this shouldn’t link to some adult website or

infected website, right?”

“Huh?”

“I received a message which did not resemble something which Emi

would send.”

“Just the fact that you and Emilia are exchanging messages is strange
enough, but it’s too late to be saying this now……show it to me. Oh.”

Urushihara looked at the link, then because of a reason different

from Maou, he showed a perplexed expression.

“This is a social media website link, and it’s not the type where you
can upload photos. The one below is a news site. They don’t look like
problematic websites. Ignoring her is also very troublesome, so why
don’t you try to open them?”

“Social media website……oh, when I participated in the hiring

training, a lot of people asked for my account. When I said that I
don’t use any of them, everyone got a huge shock.”

“The company probably prefers this type of employee but you still
failed huh. By the way, what does the site say?”

“You’re so good at nonchalantly re-opening old wounds. Anyway,

let me open the top one first.....huh?”

Maou frowned once he saw the contents on the screen.

“……Crocodile?”
“Huh?”

“N, no, a short paragraph appeared once it opened the link, and it’s
saying that a crocodile appeared in Shibuya.”

“Huh? What are you talking about……wow, it’s true.”

Because Maou said some strange words, Urushihara squeezed in

from the side to look at the mobile phone.

The short paragraph was what Maou had said, and a photo of a large
reptile taken from a far distance at night was attached.

“How about the other site?”

“It’s the same. The phrasing is a little shallow for a news site, but the
contents mirror what was said on a few online articles, that a
crocodile had appeared in Shibuya.”

“Why did Emilia send such a thing over?”

“How would I know. Hey, using a phone takes too long, can you use
the computer to look for more details?”

“Wait a moment. Uh……Shibuya area, crocodile……a lot of quick

summaries from social media sites appeared, but these are probably
fake news used to cause trouble. After all, that crocodile like
creature in the photo is too large?”

Urushihara took out the laptop from the closet.

After looking at it on a bigger screen, it could be discovered that

something like a post box was also included in the photo next to the
crocodile like creature, and from that, it could be seen that the
crocodile was so big that it could not have been raised as a pet.

“Fake news? The whole world can see what is on the internet, right?
Wouldn’t posting this kind of fake news cause a huge problem? If
such a huge crocodile appeared in Shibuya, it would be a huge
incident, wouldn’t it?”

“It’s because a lot of idiots feel that it won’t cause a huge problem,
but it’s strange.”

“Hm?”

“If this is fake news or done by someone who derives pleasure from
causing trouble, even if the source article is spread quickly, there
would no new pieces of information, but this is another photo of the
crocodile from another angle. And the uploader is a different
person.”

Urushihara’s tone gradually became more serious.

“Since other people are uploading photos from different angles, that
means that there is more than one witness?”

“It could be specially prepared to make the fake news look more
legitimate, hm~ either way, how about calling Emilia first? She
probably notified you because she felt it was suspicious……”

Just as Urushihara was speaking.

The late night air of the streets of Sasazuka suddenly shook

vigorously.

““?””

“………Chirp……”

Maou and Urushihara looked at each other on reflex, and inside the
box, Camio groaned.

It was a considerable distance away, but that was clearly a tremor

caused by an explosion.
And it was not a normal explosion.

“Hey, Urushihara, stay here and protect Camio. I’m going to call Emi
and head to the scene together with her.”

“Alright. I will contact Ashiya and Bell too, just in case.”

Maou and Urushihara acted quickly.

“I leave it to you……ugoh?”

“Uwah?”

At this moment, the main door which should have been locked
opened suddenly, giving Maou and Urushihara a fright.

“Eh? Maou-kun and the chicken are here too……”

The one who came was a sleepy looking Ooguro Amane.

“Urushihara-kun came back too. How about Ashiya-kun? He’s still

over there (Ente Isla), right? What was that just now?”

“We’re not sure as well, I’m preparing to go out to investigate it.”

“Alright, either way, it looks like this is not related to all of you. Ah~
this is troublesome! I just fell asleep too!”

Just as Maou hurried Amane, who was complaining continuously, so

she could leave the apartment together with him, his mobile phone
rang. Even if he did not look at the screen, he knew that the call was
from Emi.

“I discovered something on my end and am preparing to head out,

Amane-san and I are rushing to the scene, you……”

『I am flying towards Chiho-chan’s house now. Luckily it’s night

now.』
“Thanks. Then I’ll see you later.”

『Yeah, all of you be careful too.』

After communicating quickly over the phone and putting his phone
into his pocket, Maou rushed out of Room 201.

“Did Yusa-chan call?”

When they were running down the stairs, Amane squinted her sleep
filled eyes and asked this.

“Yeah, she’s heading towards Chi-chan’s home now.”

“Seamless teamwork is a good thing huh.”

“It is a huge help.”

“You’re such a straightforward man…...oh my, this is not the time to

space out.”

Amane, who planned to tease Maou then observe his reaction, had a
serious expression on her face by the time she left the apartment.

“That is in the direction of Yoyogi Park.”

Maou said this with a frown.

The location was at the Shibuya area, but in the photos of the
mysterious crocodile just now, the surrounding vegetation seemed
to be very dense.

There were too many uncertainties.

But only one thing could be confirmed.

That was the reason Maou, Emi and Amane rushed out of their
homes and even Urushihara listened to Maou’s orders seriously.
The explosion just now, was caused by the energy formed with
demonic magic.

But amongst the demons in Ente Isla, the only ones in Japan
currently should be only Maou, Urushihara and Camio.

“Can you fly?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing.”

Amane and Maou jumped into the air and flew towards the
mysterious source of demonic magic.

“Could it be that one of your long clawed subordinates have gone

out of control again?”

“If that is the case, I would definitely make him take responsibility,
but I feel that the situation is more serious than that.”

Maou looked towards the left hand of Amane beside him.

Amane, who used her left hand to block Kamael’s spear, seemed to
have injured her hand seriously, but right now, only one OK band
was stuck there.

“In the past, there was a situation where someone used a holy magic
spell to create demonic magic within the bodies of the

Earth humans.”

Raguel, an angel from Heaven, had used the electromagnetic

waves from the televisions to cast a search spell ‘Sonar’ to force
out Lailah who had been hiding in Japan.

At that time, Chiho was hit by the sonar directly, and her body
produced demonic magic because of the backlash, causing her to
lose consciousness for one whole day.
“Yeah, it’s about the incident where Chiho-chan was sent to hospital,
right? It seemed like a huge commotion was caused that time.”

“Since angels might appear, we have to consider that possibility.”

“Those guys are so troublesome, I really wish to attack and

exterminate them.”

Amane started to say some dangerous things.

“There’s no need to hold back, you know? We’ll have an easier time
too.”

“Stop with the jokes. Doing that would just cause more trouble.
Issues from that side should be solved by people from that side.”

Because it was late at night, Maou and Amane flew in the sky
without a care.

Not considering Maou who already gained back demonic magic, even
if Amane was floating in the air, demonic magic nor holy magic could
be sensed from her at all, it could be seen that she was not a normal
person at all.

“It’s here, right?”

“Seems to be.”

In a corner of Yoyogi Park, there was a hole in the land, as if that spot
had been hit by a small meteor.

The trees around that hole were burning, and the horns of the fire
engines could be heard from far away.

There was even a huge creature with an abnormal appearance there.

Although only the term crocodile could be used to describe it, it was
definitely not a crocodile.
“Is that.....a demon?”

It looked like a crocodile from far away, but those horns, teeth and
size, no matter how one looked at it, it resembled a newly
discovered dinosaur or a monster at the same level.

From its size, it was impossible for the creature to appear in the
middle of Tokyo without anyone seeing it.

“What do we do, it’s already past the time for the last train, but the
cars and onlookers are still increasing in number.”

Just as what Amane said, they were some distance away, but there
were still many people in the surrounding area who had gathered to
see the mysterious creature.

“Not sleeping at such a late time, that’s so unhealthy…...I’ll cast a

spell to block their vision.”

Maou clicked his tongue, and to avoid being detected by the humans
on the ground, he cast a simple demonic magic barrier beneath his
feet to block their vision.

“We should take this opportunity to kill that creature.”

“Don’t kill things that easily. I want to know why this kind of thing
would appear here.”

“No matter how you look at it, it does not look like something from
Earth. That hole is obviously caused by a supernatural power.

If we leave it alone, there wil be sacrifices.”

Amane’s gaze was as cold as ice.

The strange creature in front of them was very mysterious, even if it

was a demon, Maou had never seen a demon who looked like this.
The figure within the pit clearly gave others a fierocious impression
as it surveyed its surroundings, and even how that pit was formed
was a mystery.

“I’m sorry, to me, the lives of the humans of Earth are more
important than the life of a creature of a foreign world, I’m going to
take action.”

Just as Maou felt troubled because he did not know what to say or
do to stop Amane----

““?””

With an action which was clearly intentional, the crocodile monster

looked up at the two of them.

Then it opened its mouth wide, baring its threatening looking teeth
at the pair----

『Demonic magic barrier……Satan! Is it Lord

Satan!』“Huh?”

Then a voice rumbled out from the back of its throat, speaking words
which only Maou could understand.

『Satan, I have been searching for you for a long time! That bastard
Caminijah broke the rules and wanted to attack me! This

is unforgivable! 』

“M, me? Camini, what is that?”

『 Satan, Caminijah is in cahoots with the Legion warriors! We need

to fortify our defences immediately! Where did Caminijah go! Has he
not returned yet?』
“Maou-kun, that crocodile seems to be looking for you? And it seems
like he can see us.”

“Uh…… that is the language of the Demon World, but I don’t

understand what he’s saying…… what is Caminijah…… I seem to have
an impression of it……”

Just as Amane and Maou were feeling very confused about it, a weak
voice was heard from behind.

“Ca, Caminijah…… is the name of my father…… chirp.”

The two of them turned back in surprise, and realised that a stony
faced Urushihara, who had spread his wings and chased after them,
was holding a black chicken.

“Camio?”

『Ugh! Caminijah! So that was where you were!』

The crocodile beneath them suddenly gave a roar which was filled
with murderous intent.

『You went into hiding so suddenly, unforgivable! Satan! That guy is

a traitor!』

“Hey, Camio, the Satan he is talking about, could it be……”

“That’s right…… the Ancient Demon King Satan, also an angel from
Heaven, Sataniel. He seemed to have mistaken me for my father.”

『Caminijah! I am going to use the demonic magic here to send you

to the other world! Take this! 』

“Wah, Maou-kun, it seems like he’s going to shoot something from

his mouth! I have a feeling that it would be really dirty!”

“He doesn’t look that strong. Everyone, hide behind me first……”

『Take this! 』

“Ugoh?”

Just like what Amane predicted, that crocodile began to shoot a light
ray from its mouth to attack Maou and the others.

Luckily, the power of the light ray was not strong, even Maou, who
rushed outside without replenishing that much demonic magic, was
able to dissipate that energy with just one hand, but that was not the
problem.

『U……ugh…… 』

A drastic change occurred in the body of the crocodile monster.

Just like a tap which was being tightened, that light ray gradually
became weaker, and the crocodile’s body started to shrink like a
deflating balloon.

『Uh……ah…… 』

In a few seconds, the huge crocodile monster shrunk to around the

size of a lizard.

“This, what is going on?”

“This is the same as my clan. This guy’s clan----the Renrebellbebelbe,

would shrink when they are in trouble.”

Urushihara was the first one to react to this name.

“Renrebellbebelbe, aren’t those the demonic beasts which the

Ancient Demon King took care of?”

“Lucifer, so you knew about this. That’s right, he is the only survivor
and the last clan leader of the Renrebellbebelbe, and……”

“Gah…… damn it, Camini, jah.”

The exhausted lizard flipped over and laid down in this spread-eagled
position.

From how his throat would move up and down according to his
breathing, it could be seen that he was still alive, but that was not
the main point.

“That guy’s……throat area……”

“Lord Demon King, that should be the Astral Gem.”

“……Huh?”

“So it is.”

Maou’s eyes widened in surprise, while Urushihara had a serious

expression on his face.

“The gem on that guy, the clan leader of the Renrebellbebelbe,

would be the last legacy, the Astral Gem.”

Camio’s voice was high pitched and weak, but in Maou’s ears, it
sounded very heavy.
70
 Chapter 2 : Hero, Revealing
Her Uneasiness Towards the
Future

The morning after a mysterious large creature appeared at Yoyogi

Park, the population density of Room 201 drastically increased,
something which had not happened in a while.

Other than Maou, Ashiya, Emi, Chiho and Suzuno, Amane, Lailah and
the landlady of Villa Rosa Sasazuka, Shiba Miki, had squeezed into
Room 201.

By the way, to avoid agitating the lizard, Alas=Ramus, Acies and Iron
were left in Room 101, watching television with Nord.

Once Urushihara came close to Shiba, noticeable changes would

occur on different parts of his body, including his hair, so he was
hiding in the closet by himself.

Whether it was a good or bad thing, Maou, who had became used to
the emptiness of the room, frowned slightly, but this was not the
main point.

Everyone who had gathered in this room were focusing on the same
place.

“Maou-san.”

The one who spoke first was Shiba, showing a rare stern expression
on her face.

“You should not that pets aren’t allowed in Villa Rosa

Sasazuka, right?”

“Technically, it’s not a pet, so please let me off.”

71
Although everyone was thinking why this had to be the first
question, no one said anything.

“I am still in this state…… this is embarrassing.”

In the cardboard box, Camio lowered his head.

“No, Camio-dono’s usual appearance would not be suitable for

Japan, so this is just fine.”

Ashiya patted the small chicken’s back in a comforting manner, then

looked back at the place where everyone was focusing on.

There was a cage made with holy magic placed there, and inside was
a sleeping lizard.

Obviously, that was the shrunken version of the crocodile monster

which Maou and Amane had seen in Yoyogi Park last night.
※
Yoyogi Park the night before.

After this lizard launched an attack at Maou and the others, its body
shrank. Amane and Maou had planned to bring him back secretly.

Just as Maou, from where he was in the air, planned to use demonic
magic to pull up the unmoving lizard which had shrunk----

“Lord Demon King! Don’t!”

Camio’s words caused Maou to stop his actions instantly, but some
demonic magic had already been released from his fingertips.

The changes happened quickly.

The lizard swelled to the size of a small crocodile.

It did not regain consciousness because of this, but from this, it could
be seen that this crocodile monster was a creature which was very
good at absorbing demonic magic.

“I should be fine then.”

Amane moved her finger slightly, and this time, the body of the
crocodile did not change and floated into the air.

“I’m looking forward to the hot topic on the news websites

tomorrow. It should something like 『Unidentified Creature Appears
in Yoyogi Park, Disappeared into the City Skyline after Getting Killed!
』『Many Witnesses!』”

Amane said this cheerfully, but Maou did not think it was interesting
at all.

There was no need to wait for tomorrow, even it was late at night
now, when Maou and the others returned to the apartment and had
Urushihara check things out, they realised that on the websites of
the main domestic social networks, there were already a lot of
people who had uploaded photos of the crocodile walking, the
instant of the explosion or even videos of the crocodile being pulled
up into the sky by Amane.

“I browsed through everything and it seems like all the photos

or videos did not get a good shot of us, so we can relax for the
time being. Perhaps because even the demonic barrier was
absorbed, some blurry human figures were still captured on
some photos.”

“The problems are piling up…… how am I supposed to relax.”

With an exhausted expression, Maou called Emi’s phone.

“The problem is resolved for now, but new problems have arose. I’m
sorry, but can you come over to the apartment later?”
『I’m fine with that, what happened? 』

“This might not be your speciality, but there is no one else we can
depend on. Suzuno and Emerada are in Ente Isla currently,

right? Even if we ask them to rush over now, it would still take 40
minutes, and we might not be able to wait that long.”

『How about Chiho-chan? Does she have to come along? 』

“No, it might be dangerous if she comes over. Other than me,

Urushihara has actually returned as well, but we can’t act
carelessly right now. Currently, we are relying on Amane-san’s
power alone.”

『I understand. I will head over immediately. Chiho-chan, I will be……

』
Emi agreed easily, and her voice as she spoke with Chiho could still
be heard on the other side of the phone, then the connection was
cut off.

After Maou closed his phone, he held it for a moment longer----

“Actually, Emi isn’t as obstructive as Urushihara said. She should

not be that kind of person.”

And mumbled this at the same time.

※
“Then?”

The one who spoke next was Suzuno.

For some reason, she seemed very unhappy and her tone of voice
was very cold.
“Can I confirm that the devastation in the backyard is also due to this
lizard?”

“Haah, that is correct.”

“What happened? Based on the situation, I might have to teach him

a lesson.
76
Of course Suzuno would be angry.

It was not as bad as what it was like in Yoyogi Park, but on the
ground in the backyard of Villa Rosa, there was also a pit, and even
the surrounding wall came close to breaking.

The location of the pit was the home grown vegetable garden which
Suzuno created with a lot of effort, rather than saying that
everything vanished into thin air, it was more like her effort had
turned to dust.

“Our greatest mistake should be allowing him to absorb a bit of

Maou’s demonic magic. He regained consciousness when we
returned and it became like this after he caused a big ruckus. Sorry
about that.”

“To be honest, if the demonic magic was still inside the closet, the
consequences would be even more unthinkable. Erhm, we did
not expect this guy to be so troublesome…… sorry.”

If this lizard which absorbed the demonic magic of others so

avariciously absorbed the demonic magic placed inside the closet,
which was enough for Maou to regain his Demon King form, the
damaages might not just be restricted to the home grown garden.

Last night, to ensure his private space within the closet, Urushihara
moved the demonic magic outside the room, carrying out this action
just happened to avoid the worst case situation.

Right now, this batch of demonic magic was placed in Shiba’s house
and sealed tightly.

“I was at fault as well. Because he was making such a huge

commotion, and seeing the devastation caused at Yoyogi Park, to
prevent him from damaging the apartment, I hurriedly threw him out

77
to the backyard, and I didn’t expect that Kamazuki-chan had built up
a home vegetable garden there. I’m really sorry.”

“…… Since that was how it happened……”

Not only Urushihara in the closet and Maou, even Amane, who had a
free and easy attitude, had apologised seriously. With this,

Suzuno could not display such a forceful attitude.

That vegetable garden had been created by Suzuno, but more than
half the time, Urushihara was left to manage it, and that vegetable
garden was created not that long ago, so other than monetary
losses, there was no other damage done.

“But what’s up with that guy? Since the stone on his throat is the
Astral Gem, could this demon be the Ancient Demon King

Satan’s legacy?”

In a place with illumination, it could be clearly seen that the stone

buried in that demon’s throat had already merged with it, such that
it would not be strange for it to be mistaken as a body part with a
harder characteristic, similar to a horn, tooth or claw.

“A living legacy doesn’t feel that interesting, but it might be correct.

Look that this.”

Lailah pointed towards the head of the demon which had shrunk
from a crocodile to a lizard.

Even if the lizard’s body was covered in brown scales, only its head
and the area around the stone had bright rainbow patterns.

Under the light of the sun, that pattern glittered like a rainbow
coloured collar, and it looked like an expensive accessory which did
not match with the lazily sleeping lizard.
“It is said that the Astral Gem was installed on the
Renrebellbebelbe’s collar. That does look a little like a collar.”

Urushihara said this from within the closet, causing Emi to show an
unhappy expression.

“No matter what, this is such poor taste. Is this done by Sataniel?”

“Sorry, I don’t know about this. With regards to the details of the
legacy, I don’t know it very well.”

Having lived in the same era as Sataniel, Emi’s mother----Lailah could

only look at the lizard in a perplexed manner.

“What do we do if this is the Astral Gem. Do we dig it out from his

throat? I don’t think he can still live after that.”

Suzuno, who was still angry because the home grown vegetable
garden was destroyed, said something dangerous.

“It’s not clear whether such a thing can be done. Consolidating

Camio-dono’s and Amane-san’s descriptions and explanations, this
demon does not seem to be a normal demon.”

Ashiya gave this warning.

“Camio-dono is so strong that Barbariccia and the other Chieftains

have acknowledged him as worthy of the duty as deputy

Demon King. I did not expect that there would still be a strong
demon in the Demon World which could handle Camio-dono and an
angel at the same time, this is too surprising.”

Unexpectedly, ninety percent of Camio’s injuries were caused by this

lizard demon, no, the clan leader of the Renrebellbebelbe,

Kinanah.
By the way, the culprit who threw Kamael’s spear into Chiho’s room
could possibly be Kinanah who had mistaken Camio as an enemy.

If Kinanah came to Japan at the same time as Camio, then it was

amazing that he could hide until last night without causing a
commotion.

“That guy called Kinanah knew the name of my father, Caminijah.

Not only that, when I asked him to give us the Astral Gem, he
mistook me for Caminijah, and at that time, the angel who had the
same purpose as us appeared and tried to defeat Kinanah, causing
me and that angel to be defeated by him instead……”

“That Kamael is truly incapable of doing good things.”

Camio’s explanation caused Lailah to mumble this and Emi agreed

with this silently.

“As for him suddenly growing in size in Yoyogi Park, Demon King,
Alsiel, I guess it should be your fault.”

“Huh?” “What?”

“When the two of you came to Japan for the first time, you landed in
that area, right? At that time, the two of you just had a battle with
me, so you spread a lot of demonic magic in this country and caused
trouble to many places.”

“W, what is this?”

(T/N: For more details about this, refer to the short story in Volume
14, the one about Emi getting her apartment.)

Maou asked frantically, but Emi did not continue to answer and
turned to look at Kinanah.
“What Bell said is reasonable. Since it had already fused this much, if
we forcefully take it out, he would probably die. Is that alright? I
suffered some mental trauma before, so I really do not wish to kill
lizards……”

“……Now that you mentioned it, such an incident did occur……”

After hearing what Emi said, Suzuno mumbled this in a volume

unheard by the others.

(T/N: For more details about this, refer to the second short story in
Volume 0.)

“Uh, killing him is too much, it feels that he’s a little pitiful……”

Maou did not really approve of this extreme method of taking the
other party’s life.

Even if he was a lizard demon, he was still a demon.

For the goal of Maou and the rest and the peace of Ente Isla, they
definitely needed to obtain the Astral Gem, but could they just
sacrifice this demon’s life because of this?

Because no one expected to weigh the value of lives at this time, a

heavy atmosphere descended.

Whether it was correct to sacrifice one life for the sake of the
masses, just as the strongest humans and demons faced this old
question which did not have any answers----

“E, erhm, can I ask a question?”

Chiho, who had been settled at the back of the room, raised her
hand nervously.

“That stone on its throat, is it really the Astral Gem?”

““““Huh?””””

As everyone looked towards Chiho in confusion, the latter sensed

that her meaning had not been transmitted successfully.

“Erhm, although everyone said that the stone on Kinanah? San’s?

throat is the Astral Gem, but is that truly the case?”

“About that…… it does make sense?”

Maou wanted to confirm it immediately, but immediately sensed

that his explanation lacked any clear evidence, so he turned to look
at Kinanah’s head.

“However, the colour, shape and appearance does resemble it.”

“B, but that stone, seems to grow and shrink together with Kinanah-
san? Especially right now, it looks very small.”

“Yeah……”

Maou nodded in agreement.

“I have never seen any other legacy besides the demonic spear, but
no matter what, that stone is so much smaller than the demonic
spear, right? Powerful tools don’t have to be very large, but before
confirming that this is really the Astral Gem, it would be best not to
consider killing him or forcefully pulling the stone out.”

This reasonable opinion caused everyone to fall silent because of a

different reason.

“…… Camio, with regards to Chi-chan’s opinion, what do you think

about it? You seemed to have said very confidently yesterday

that this is the Astral Gem.”

“Based on the legends, the Astral Gem should be guarded by
Kinanah, no, the Renrebellbebelbe clan chirp, but in actuality,
because I happened to encounter the angel, I firmly believed that it
is the Astral Gem chirp…… and other than that, I could not find
anything else which resembled a gem chirp.”

Camio seemed to have lost his confidence because of Chiho’s

opinion.

“This means that we can only wait for this lizard to wake up again.
That being said, depending on how it wakes up, the next time it
happens might not end with just the backyard getting damaged.
Maou-kun, can’t you find a way to deal with that block of demonic
magic? If that demonic magic is absorbed by him, the next time it
might be the Tokyo Tower getting snapped, the

Kachidoki Bridge getting flipped over or the National Diet Building

getting trampled on instead.”

Just absorbing a little of the telekinesis magic Maou used to move

things and the demonic magic barrier used to obstruct vision was
enough to destroy Suzuno’s vegetable garden.

If he absorbed the crystalised demonic magic which was enough for

Maou and Ashiya to fully recover their demonic magic, the
consequences would be unimaginable.

“A, Ashiya, hurry up and take that to Ente Isla first.”

“Understood. I don’t wish to put that much demonic magic over

there, but it seems like there is no choice in this situation. It was
unexpected that such a difficult obstacle would be encountered at
such a late stage. Just in case, I will share this information with the
people over there, but there should be a need to reallocate
manpower later on. Demon King-sama, if it’s convenient, may I know
what are your work shifts for the next few days?”
“I am working from this afternoon, so there is still some time, but I
will be working for most of the day tomorrow, so I don’t have any
free time.”

“You still plan to go to work at this kind of time? With this kind of
emergency, you should be able to apply for leave, right?”

Feeling rather surprised, Amane asked this, but before she opened
her mouth, forget about Maou, even Emi, Chiho, Ashiya,

Urushihara and Suzuno had not realised that they were already
starting to think about how to handle Camio and Kinanah when

Maou was at work.

“But Amane-san, Demon King-sama is currently facing a crucial

period with regards to his development at MgRonalds.”

Because of that.

Ashiya, who did not know anything, said this to Amane as if he was
looking for an excuse.

“Demon King-sama is currently undergoing the full-timer promotion

training. I remember that it is almost time for the final interview
stage, if he went missing at such a crucial time, it might affect his
evaluation.”

“…… Ugh.”

“…… Ah.”

“...........”

Ashiya was looking at Amane, so he did not notice the reactions from
Maou, Urushihara and Emi.
On the contrary, after Chiho and Suzuno noticed how strangely the
trio were acting, their eyes widened slightly.

“Anyway, Urushihara, you will continue to stand guard at Room 201

today. If anything happens, you will be responsible for handling it. As
for the plans after tomorrow, we will talk about it later. Does Emilia
have to go to work today?”

“…… No, because Chiho has an off day today, so I am also off today.”

“I see. At least it can be confirmed that someone can protect Sasaki-

san no matter what happens today. Bell, you……”

“…… I have to return to Ente Isla today as well, but I still have some
time before doing so, and Kinanah’s cage needs to be strengthened
further. I’m sorry, but please go back first.”

Because they could not use a cage constructed with demonic magic
to lock Kinanah up, Emi first used her unpolished skills as an
emergency measure, but she was not an expert, so Suzuno had to
strengthen it later.

“Alright. Anyway the most important thing right now would be to

distance Kinanah from demonic magic. Demon King-sama and

Lucifer should still have enough stored in your bodies, right?”

“……Yeah.”

“Haah, it looks like he hasn’t gone so far as to absorb the

demonic magic in the bodies of the other people.”

“Then I will rush back immediately first. Landlady-san, I’m sorry for
disturbing you so many times, we will definitely find an opportunity
to make amends later, so please forgive us for today.”

“There’s no need to be this anxious.”

Shiba nodded and replied, but she did not say that she was not
bothered by it.

After quickly making his greetings, Ashiya went to the Shiba home
together with the Landlady to retrieve the demonic magic crystals,
Lailah also stood up to follow them.

“I’m going back as well. I am going to find Gabriel to check what and
how he had reported to Heaven about the legacies at that time.
Emilia, I’ll be leaving Father and the others to you.”

“Alright alright, leave it to me.”

Because the distance between them had decreased a lot, the scene
of mother and daughter waving hands at each other had become
more natural compared to before.

Then----

More than ten minutes later, the ones left in the room were Maou,
Chiho, Emi, Suzuno, Urushihara who had come out of the closet, as
well as Camio and Kinanah.

“W, what is it. You just have to leave it to me and Urushihara

today……”

Maou, who did not dare to look at the female members in the
eyes, said this, but Chiho, Emi and Suzuno were unpertubed.

In the end, as if he had given up, Maou sighed heavily and admitted
it honestly,

“…… Alright alright, I admit defeat. I said it to Urushihara yesterday,

but anyway, I did not pass my full-timer promotion training.”

“Eh……”

“I see.”
“Haah, I guessed it would probably be like that.”

“Eh, wait a moment, Chi-chan and Suzuno don’t know about it?”

Chiho was shocked speechless and Suzuno also looked very

surprised. Both their unexpected reactions caused Maou to feel
surprised in return.

“Ah, e, erhm, I did realise that you were acting a little weird since
yesterday……”

“I only noticed that you seem to be hiding something from Alsiel.”

Chiho explained hastily, and as if she had sensed something, Suzuno

lowered her gaze.

“It looks like you have not told Alsiel.”

“I wonder, should I say it’s because I can’t bear to, I feel ashamed, I
feel guilty, or a little bit of everything.”

Of course, part of it was due to his loyalty as a Demon General, but

ever since they came to Japan, not only did Ashiya help

Maou build the foundation for their lives, he also devoted himself to
supporting Maou’s dream.

However, Maou was unable to reciprocate Ashiya’s efforts.

Because Maou still had to ‘go to work’, all the work on the scene was
left to Ashiya and Camio, and just like before, he was still
commanding the subordinates who were in Ente Isla.

Even so, when it was time to actually attack Heaven, Ashiya would
still hand over the position of commanding officer to Maou without
any hesitation.
“Haah, even if I wanted to hide it, I would not be able to hide it for
that long, but rather than telling him during this kind of chaotic
situation, I would apologise to him properly when the situation has
stabilised.”

“Then when do you think the situation will stablise!”

“…… I don’t know.”

Emi asked this with a stern tone, and Maou replied with a bland
smile.

He knew what Emi meant.

With Maou failing to become a full-time employee, Chiho, Suzuno

and Urushihara clearly knew what effect this would have on the
relationship between Maou and Emi.

“Lord Demon King, things in the world would not always go one’s
way. Our road to dominance was also filled with hardships chirp.
Because of Lord Demon King’s bold actions, I am always running
around in circles, and a few times, I thought that I was done for
chirp.”

Camio said calmly.

He probably did not know much about MgRonalds and full-time

employment.

But this veteran soldier knew that his master had chosen a very
difficult training and failed.

“I think that Lord Demon King would definitely not give up just like
this chirp. After you lost to Hero Emilia, you went so far as to escape
to this foreign world so that you could live on, and I don’t think the
reason for doing that was because you treasured your own life.”
“I wish all of you would not mention it in front of the person
involved.”

Emi showed a troubled smile at Camio who acted like he was

counselling his grandchild.

However, since even Emi had a more relaxed expression on her face,
Chiho, Suzuno and Urushihara were naturally less tense compared to
earlier.

“I don’t know either. After all, when fighting with Emi, the situation
was more critical compared to when I was fighting with

Ashiya……”

“......” “Ugh.”

Only Urushihara and Chiho knew what Maou was talking about. As
for Emi and Suzuno, they were not listening attentively.

“Even if situations become harsher over time, being able to use

unexpected strategies to turn the tables regardless of this, that

is the Lord Demon King I know chirp. Please do not be too

disheartened chirp. Because right now, even the humans are not
your 『enemies』 anymore chirp.”

No one rebuked Camio’s words.

If it was in the past, Emi and Suzuno would definitely say that they
were the Demon King’s enemies on reflex.

But this time, the two of them did not say anything.

“Please complete your daily work first. You can leave it to me and
Lucifer to watch Kinanah. Then, Hero Emilia, Lady Sasaki Chiho and
Lady Crestia Bell…...ah.....chirp?”
“C, Camio-san?”

Chiho helped Camio to stand up when he fell over the edge of the
cardboard box as he attempted to walk out of it.

However, after Camio stood up, he spread his wings like what he did
at the beach house Ooguro-ya in the past and bowed deeply to the
three females.

“We had many grudges in the past, and us demons might end up
being the enemies of you humans in the future, but for the sake of
all the lives in Ente Isla, I ask all of you to work together with my
Lord for the time being to overcome the challenges… chirp.”

“Camio-san! Please don’t do this, raise your head now! I have been
on Maou-san’s side from the start!”

“......”

Chiho said this frantically and Maou was stunned from how shocked
he was.

Just this once, Camio’s ‘chirp’ sound did not help in lightening the
atmosphere.

The deputy Demon King which did not have any connections with
Japan actually bowed to humans.

Just knowing that his Lord, Demon King Satan, was facing difficulties,
he bowed his head to past enemies.

“Camio-dono, please raise your head.”

Suzuno held Camio’s wings with her hands.

Because Suzuno’s tone was too normal, Maou, Emi, Chiho and
Urushihara did not notice it.
This was the first time Suzuno sincerely added an honorific behind a
demon’s name.

“Humans and demons do see each other as enemies, but on the

surface, not only do Demon KIng Satan and I have a lordsubordinate
relationship, we are neighbours living in the same apartment. There
is a saying in Japan 『Helping each other in difficult times』. I don’t
know how the Battle to Defeat God will turn out in the end, but at
the moment I hope I can reciprocate your sincerity.”

“I am deeply grateful chirp.”

Urushihara watched Camio who was deeply touched and moved his
chin slightly.

“......How about you?”

“I will not be affected by the atmosphere that easily.”

“Oh~ that’s unexpected. I thought you were the type who would be
immediately influenced by it.”

Urushihara smirked at Emi whose expression implied that she was

unperturbed by what was happening.

“From the beginning to the end, I am the Demon King’s enemy.”

“Oh~ I see.”

“I did not expect anything from you in the first place. More
accurately, if even you start to pity me, I would be more depressed.”

Emi displayed a cold attitude, but Urushihara and Maou were more
accepting of this reaction instead. Seeing this, Emi raised an eyebrow
arrogantly and said,

“Hey? All of you would be more relaxed like this, right? So I should
just maintain the status quo.”
““......””

Urushihara and Maou had shocked expressions on their faces

while Chiho showed a troubled smile, half in surprise and half in
respect. As for Suzuno, she just shrugged in frustration.

Seeing this, Camio raised the corner of his beak, showing a smile
which he would not normally show in front of others.

Adramelech and Malacoda were not around anymore, but currently,

there were reliable comrades around Satan who did not lose to
them.

To Camio, there was nothing else which would make him happier.

“But.”

Maou spoke with a slightly shaky voice, trying to pull the

conversation back on track.

“Regardless, we have a mountain of problems now. In both Ente Isla

and Japan. Being unable to become a full-time employee has already
been decided, so there is no point talking more about this, but Emi,
Chi-chan……”

“What is it.”

“Yes?”

“If things happen quickly, there might be trouble today. I wanted to

talk about Kisaki-san’s situation later, but both your situations are a
little special, so I should just take the opportunity to say it now.”

The shocking fact Maou announced after this caused Emi and Chiho
to freeze from how tense they felt from the double blow, and even
Suzuno had become expressionless.
“Kisaki-san will be transferred in the next financial year and leave the
store in front of Hatagaya station.”
※
“Is it my imagination? The shop opposite feels a bit dark.”

After Maou parked Dullahan II at the bicycle parking lot, he glanced

at the Sentucky Fried Chicken Hatagaya store opposite.

If he knew that Kisaki was going to leave this store, what would
happen to the opposite shop manager Mitsuki Sarue----

Archangel Sariel.

The most possible situation would probably be chasing after Kisaki’s

footsteps.

After all, his enthusiasm and drive was very high.

According to Gabriel’s explanation, Heaven should be a place filled

with lethargy, so it was unknown how he managed to preserve this
irritatingly enthusiastic personality for such a long time.

However, Kisaki would be transferred to an internal department

after this, if Sariel wanted to stay by her side, he would need to do
the same as what he did in Sentucky and find a way to infiltrate the
MgRonalds headquarters.

Anyway, the employees working the morning shift today should have
heard about Kisaki getting transferred.

Exchange information with them first, then come up with a strategy

to defend against ‘Shop Manager Sarue’s attack’, just as

Maou thought this and walked into the store.

“W, what is with this atmosphere……”

A heavy atmosphere which caused his shoulders to feel heavy rushed
towards him, making Maou survey his surroundings in surprise.

“Ah! Maou-san! Come and take a look at that, quickly!”

Once his colleague, Ooki Akiko noticed that Maou had come to work,
ran over franctically.

“What is that?”

At the beginning, Maou only saw a black shadow in the direction

indicated by Akiko.

But after calming down and taking another look, there was a
customer sitting at the seat furthest away from the entrance.

It was just that……

“Eh, why is he here? And why is he like that?”

It was definitely a very frail Sarue Mitsuki who had changed a lot
since Maou last saw him.

His exhausted expression was like a weathered piece of paper which

would fall apart once it was touched. At the same time, he was
exuding an atmosphere which made others feel that they would be
dragged down to Hell with him once they looked away.

“Seeing your reaction, you should already know that Kisaki-san is

about to be transferred.”

So it had something to do with that after all.

It was normal for Akiko and the others to know about this, but where
did Sariel get this information from?
No, it was not confirmed that Sariel already knew that Kisaki was
going to be transferred, but if it was not that, then why was he this
depressed?

“Is Kisaki-san around?”

“This morning, after she told everyone about the transfer, she went
to the headquarters for a Shop Manager meeting, she will probably
be back after 3p.m. Then about Shop Manager Sarue ”

The next moment, Maou began to doubt his own ears.

“Kisaki-san took the initiative to tell him?”

“Sigh.”

A ghostly sound was heard from deep within the darkness, but Maou
and Akiko ignored it.

“I know right, I was super shocked too, but there seems to be some
reason for it…… and she might have taken the initiative, but

I don’t think she told Shop Manager Sarue directly and asked one of
the employees opposite to pass on the message. There is an
employee opposite who can handle Shop Manager Sarue very well
and can hold a normal conversation. She was probably the one who
was asked.”

There was actually such a powerful person in the opposite store.

This was the first time Maou heard about this, but if it was really
possible to control that Sariel, Maou really wanted to have a good
chat with the other party.

“According to Kisaki’s explanation, rather than waiting for him to find

out afterwards and losing control, it would be better to send him off
earlier……”
“He really looks like he’s going to the other side soon. If something
goes wrong……”

“Yeah, so actually, all the employees are allowed to keep their

mobile phones in their pocket. If we depend on the shop’s phone, we
might not be able to handle emergency situations.”

This was truly martial law.

No one could predict what kind of violent or strange actions Sarue

would take after knowing that Kisaki was going to be transferred.

However, Maou also felt surprised at the same time.

He had thought that if Kisaki was really going to leave, Sariel would
definitely disregard everything else and chase after her.

But from how devasted he was, he might have accepted that he had
to be separated from Kisaki.

In actual fact though, their relationship was not so close that the
word ‘separated’ needed to be used.

Anyway, it would appear that this seat could not be used today.

Even if Sariel went back obediently, it felt that the residual curse,
remnants of his consciousness and other unpleasant things would
create a negative effect on the future customers.

“L, let me check in first. We’ll talk about this later.”

“Ah, that’s right, sorry about that. Yeah, it’s been almost two hours
since he came, but he did not react at all, so there should not be any
issues for the time being.”

He had been like that for two hours huh.

“Ah, oh yeah, Aki-chan.”

Because he felt that it would be idiotic if he continued to view this
issue so seriously, Maou said nonchalantly,

“I did not pass the full-time employment selection.”

“Eh? Seriously?”

Then, Akiko’s eyes widened as if she felt truly surprised.

“If even Maou-san failed, then who passed?”

“I only know that everyone who I am in contact with have all failed.”

By the way, Kusuda, who he got acquainted with in the training and
later received Valentine’s Day chocolate from, failed the third
selection.

The one who gathered the candidates and organised a social

gathering, Nitsuta, seemed to be in the same situation as Maou,
failing at the final interview.

Maou had spoken with a lot of people, but their relations were not
so good until he could call or message them to ask about the results.

“Uwah…… seriously…… I’m starting to worry if I can find a job now.”

“Eh?”

“Just like Kouta, I have to start looking for a job next year, honestly
speaking, I have underestimated the food and beverage

industry a little. I thought that as long as I was not too picky, I would
definitely find a job in the end…… but thinking about it calmly, I don’t
think I can be as hardworking as Kisaki-san. I’m really an idiot…… I
didn’t think that even Maou-san, who performs so outstandingly,
could also fail.”
“I don’t know why I failed either. Either way, I will still come to work
as normal after March.”

“I see. I feel bad for you, but you staying here would be a huge
help…… haah…… when I was retaking the university entrance exams,
I was scolded harshly by my parents. I did reflect on it, but if I delay
my graduation or fail to find a job, I would definitely be killed by my
parents…… uwah…… what should I do to become just like Kisaki-
san……”

“I don’t think anyone would be able to achieve that. Anyway, can I

change my clothes first?”

“Ah, sorry. I will leave now. Haah…… don’t be too discouraged. My

female senior at school said this before, job hunting is a fight against
rejection notices.”

Akiko, who had strangely followed him to the Employee Room, said
this sentence and left after noticing this.

“Everyone is having a hard time. Job hunting huh. Kouta should be

fighting too.”

Maou remembered Nakayama Koutarou who quit his part time job.

During the period between winter and spring when he got promoted
to third year of university, he quit his part time job to officially start
the job hunting process, but in this era when university graduates
would have a hard time finding a job, Maou also knew that a student
would have to apply to tens or even hundreds of companies to
participate in a recruitment exam.

“If I get depressed from this, Kouta would definitely laugh at me. No,
he’ll probably scold me.”

Maou failed to be hired by only one company.

In the past, why did he believe without a doubt that he would
perfectly get hired by the company he wanted to enter?

Rather than that, such a thing had practically never happened

before.

Of course, no one would feel happy from failing a selection, but the
shock Maou felt had been reduced a lot.

There was no rule that the hiring exam could not be taken a second
time, and other than MgRonalds, there were still many companies in
this world.

Of course, compared to university students like Akiko, Kawada and

Kouta, Maou would find it harder to find a job as he had been
working the whole time.

But until now, regardless of what he did, Maou had never been an
advantageous situation.

He had always encountered various obstacles, and it was only until

the end stages of his quest of unifying the Demon World did he
finally feel that things would proceed smoothly.

“I have really become weak. A battle which cannot be resolved with

military force is really draining on the mind.”

Whether it was unifying the Demon World or conquering Ente Isla,

there were all battles which depended on military force.

But the Full-time Employment Exam was different.

He needed to earn the other party’s trust with only his words and
actions.

“If only I can have more patience.”

At this moment, Maou’s expression finally recovered to that of an ‘A’
grade employee----Shift Manager Maou Sadao.

Urushihara had just advised him on this, but currently, based on

completely different reasons compared to before, Maou felt that his
attitude to succeed in human society would be important to his
future as Demon King.

Maou could not share this reason with too many people, but he
believed that in the near future, he would be able to make use of this
attitude.

And he had discussed this with Ashiya many times before.

The reason he did not tell Urushihara was because Urushihara was
not a deep thinker and his tone when he spoke could be too
revealing, so he might just let things slip anytime.

Especially for Emi, Suzuno and Emerada, he needed to wait until the
point when he could no longer turn back to tell them about it.

So he needed to work seriously now.

“Alright, let’s deal with Sariel first. Then re-check those places which
had been missed out yesterday……”

Maou adjusted the brim of his cap and opened the door of the
Employee Room.

Sariel who was thought of as bothersome was still sitting on the

same seat as before, acting just like a supernatureal phenomenon.
Since he did pay for his meal, he was still a customer, regardless of
how scary he looked.

There might be trouble if Maou carelessly initiated a conversation

with him, so before the other party made a move, it would be better
to ignore him for now.

100
Maou started to work, and until after the lunch period, when the
morning shift employees left, everything went smoothly.

Everyone decided to ignore that supernatural phenomenon, and

even without having to explain it, the regular customers who were
already used to this only thought that Sariel had made Kisaki
unhappy when they saw Sariel in that state.

When it was 2p.m, Maou just happened to walk down from the
second floor to the first floor.

“You’re still feeling depressed here?! Return to work quickly! I’m

going to complain to Shop Manager Tanaka, you know? If this goes
on, you’ll really get disliked by Shop Manager Kisaki!”

Maou noticed an assertive looking female employee wearing a

Sentucky uniform inside the store.

Maou showed a surprised expression, and that female employee just

greeted him with a look, then stepped into the scene of the
supernatural phenomenon and pulled the spirit out from the
darkness.

“Since you already finished eating, then stop hogging that seat and
causing trouble for others, you’re being embarrassing!”

The spirit let himself get dragged to the floor by the

female employee----

“Are you the Shift Manager Maou-san?”

Then as the female employee kept a tight grip on Sariel’s neck, she
walked towards Maou, dragging Sariel along.

“That is me……”
“Sarue is always causing everyone trouble, I’m very sorry about that.
I am the Shift Manager of the Sentucky Hatagaya store,

Furuya Kanako.”

Furuya’s refreshing short hair and determined gaze gave others a

very deep impression.

Or rather, if her determination was not strong enough, she would

probably be unable to drag Sariel along with one hand when he had
turned into a spirit.

In terms of her ability to purify things, from how she

could magnanimously accept Sariel, she probably
possessed the characteristics to become a clergywoman.

“After I heard about Shop Manager Kisaki’s transfer from her, I tried
to pass the message to Sariel as gently as I could, but no matter how
I tried to put it across, the shock was really too large for him……
taking up the seat of your store for so long, I’m really sorry.”

“Ah, uh, erhm, Shop Manager is an important customer to us……”

“When you put it that way, we feel very relieved.”

This lady known as Furuya looked irritated, but not frail, so it could
be deduced that she was very mentally strong.

If not, she would be unable to work under a shop manager who

acted based on his emotions.

“Ah, Kana, you’ve been a huge help.”

After that, Akiko appeared, looking relieved.

“Ah, Ooki-san. I’m very sorry, our useless Store Manager is always
causing everyone trouble.”
“It’s alright, everyone’s used to it.”

Akiko and Furuya seemed to have known each other already.

Before Furuya went back to the store, she kept apologising, and after
watching her and Sariel leave, Maou asked about this.

“During Valentine’s Day, Kawacchi and I had a hard time. She can be
considered a battle comrade whom we got acquainted with during
that time.”

During Valentine’s Day, Maou was undergoing the hiring exam, and
with Chiho taking part in the Jirga, he had not been focusing on what
was happening in the store.

Sariel must have carried about many strange actions because he was
looking forward to receiving chocolate from Kisaki.

“I’m not sure about the situation at that time, did anything happen?”

“I thought the situation would be worse, but fortunately, Kisaki-san

did prepare obligatory chocolate to give to Shop Manger

Sarue, and things ended without incident.”

“Kisaki-san gave Sariel chocolate?!”

Maou was so shocked that he shouted Sarue’s actual name, but

because he said it so quickly, Akiko did not notice it.

“Ahaha, Chi-chan reacted in the same way. I find it unbelievable as

well.”

“Oh…… it must be hard on all of you.”

“It was really hard. Haah, though Kana had it worse compared to us.”

Akiko looked towards the door which Furuya and Sariel had just left
through and showed a troubled smile.
“I don’t know what kind of destiny Shop Manager Sarue carries, he
was acting just like an enlightened monk before, and now, he
suddenly turned into a spirit from Hell.”

Maou could roughly imagine Sariel being so happy that he released

himself after receiving obligatory chocolate from Kisaki, but an angel
going to Hell after release was too weird.

(T/N: This is from some religious belief that going to Heaven is a type
of release.)

Ignoring what kind of destiny he was carrying, he was not even a

person from this planet, but Maou was unable to say anything.

“Such a troublesome person.”

Just as Maou mumbled this----

“Ah~ it was fortunate that Kana came, I should take this chance to
conduct an exorcism.”

Akiko took out a piece of cloth and disinfecting alcohol and started to
wipe the table Sariel had sat at.

By the time Akiko finished the exorcism, Kisaki walked out of the
Employee Room, acting as if she was wary about something within
the store.

“Did he come? Or has he left?”

“Hello, Kisaki-san, welcome back.”

“Oh, hello, Maa-kun. Did something happen there just now?”

It was not known if Kisaki had psychic powers, but clearly, some
people could still tell that something was not right.
After Kisaki took one look at the seat Sariel had sat at with a slightly
perplexed expression on her face, she turned towards Maou.

“It seems like you’re alright now.”

“…… Yes.”

Maou immediately understood Kisaki’s intentions.

Once he thought about how he was unable to hide what was on his
mind, Maou suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

“I thought you would need a little more time, as expected of Maa-

kun, you accepted it quickly.”

“If not, I won’t be able to continue working.”

“That’s right. If a person feels troubled over everything, then that

person would not be able to continue doing most things in the
world.”

Kisaki stretched her neck tiredly and surveyed her surroundings.

“I feel bad for doing this two days in a row, but can you eat dinner
with me today too?”

“Yeah, it’s……”

Maou, who almost said ‘It’s alright’, suddenly remembered

something.

There was still a pertinent issue at home which had not been solved
yet.

So he needed to be home early today.

“Ah, I’m sorry, I need to be home early today.”

“I see. No, I’m the one who should be sorry. It’s nothing urgent,
we can do this another day. By the way, since Sarue did come
today, is the business in the morning still alright?”

Kisaki immediately switched to work mode, but Maou could

not think of any reason which would cause Kisaki to ask him out
for dinner for two days in a row.

Before settling that lizard, Maou did not know if he could give a
positive reply to Kisaki next time, he kept thinking about this issue
and for a long time, he was unable to focus on his work.
※
“Isn’t it a little dark outside?”

Maou was busy closing up the shop and he felt that as he looked out
from the shop which had its lights turned off, the outside seemed a
bit too dark.

Could it be with the coming of night, the power of the spirits inside
the opposite store also became stronger? When he walked outside,
Maou realised that not only could he not see the stars at all, the
temperature was also very low.

“The temperature isn’t rising that quickly huh, I should quickly go

home after closing up the shop ugwahhhhhhh?”

Just as Maou prepared to turn off the power of the automatic door
and keep the stuff which was outside, he saw a black shadow
huddled on the ground from the corner of his eye, causing him to
scream in fright.

“Maa-kun, what’s wrong?”

Kisaki asked from inside the store, and Maou answered frantically,
“It, it’s nothing! I just almost tripped and fell down!”

“I see, be careful, okay!”

“Alright...........hey, what are you doing here?”

Maou asked the black shadow on the ground worriedly.

“…… It’s cold.”

“Obviously. Normally, jackets still need to be worn in March. When

did you start camping outside here?”

Of course, that black shadow was Sariel.

He was wearing casual clothes, squatting in front of the plants

outside the MgRonalds store while hugging his knees.

“I just closed up the shop, and once I walked out, my legs gave way.”

“Ah, then thirty minutes at most.”

It looked like he at least finished his work properly.

“You’re not lying in wait for Kisaki-san, right?”

“How is that possible? If I wanted to do that, I would choose the

employee-only entrance at the back.”

He had almost fallen into darkness, but Sariel barely managed to

hold on to some of his common sense which prevented him from
breaking the law.

“I left work while still in despair. After I walked out, I felt that the
lights in this store were so warm, and my past happiness, just like
bubbles, started to repeatedly float up, bursting…… after looking at
those memories, I could not walk anymore.”
“Whatever it is, just go back already. Your home is very closeby
right? If you freeze to death here, it’s not something which can be
settled by just causing trouble to others.”

Sariel was currently speaking like the Little Match Girl, but if Maou
continued to accompany Sariel, he would not be able to close the
shop on time.

Therefore, Maou no longer paid attention to him and returned to the

store to lock the automatic doors.

“Ahh…… oh God, oh Heaven, oh Earth, what am I supposed to do……”

Before the door closed, a voice could still be heard from the gap, but
Maou did not want to listen at all.

“…… Is Sariel outside?”

Kisaki asked with a troubled smile.

“Yeah. And he said so many things which sounded like it came from
the Little Match Girl.”

“I see. Tell him that if he wanted to freeze to death, go somewhere

else.”

After saying this sentence which might cause them to owe Andersen
an apology after arriving in that world, Kisaki and Maou did not
mention Sariel, focusing in closing up the store.

When they left from the employee-only entrance, they were greeted
with the scene of the streets at night.

After walking to the front of the store, the two of them noticed that
the black shadow had disappeared. It seemed like he had left during
these ten to twenty minutes.
After confirming that Sarue was no longer around, Kisaki gave a
disappointed hmph.

“Hmph. I felt it was like this earlier, but he is an unexpectedly weak

man huh.”

“Eh?”

“No, nothing. Then, thanks for your hard work today. Goodbye.”

“Ah, yes, thanks for the hard work.”

When Kisaki went home, it did not look as if she was that afraid of
Sarue, and the exhaustion of working the whole day could not be felt
from her as well.

After Maou watched Kisaki leave, he suddenly realised something.

As long as he was not causing trouble, Sariel was not important at all.

He really needed to return home early today, else a situation might

happen which would cause him to feel really apologetic to

Landlady Shiba, even more so than the stuations with Urushihara

and Camio.

Maou immediately got on Dullahan II and rushed home at his fastest

speed.

However----

“T, this is…… what is going on!”

Once Maou opened the porch door, he froze completely.

The state of the room was already completely different compared to

when he left his morning.
The next morning, all the destruction was spread out underneath the
sunlight.

The paper on the sliding door was tattered, and even the frame was
snapped; the surface of the tatami was seriously worn down; the
beams had pits and holes in them; even the curtains were torn.

This was no longer the Room 201 of Villa Rosa Sasazuka which Emi
and Chiho knew about.

“W, what happened?”

“Maou-san, Urushihara-san, Camio-san! Are all of you alright?”

The room might be in this state, but the occupants were not much
better.

The trio were completely dazed, as if they have lost their souls, and
only Kinanah was snoring in slumber.

“S, sorry, having all of you see such a humiliating situation.”

“It, it’s nothing, anyway, what happened……”

“It was eaten.”

“Eaten…… what does that mean?”

“This idiotic lizard ate the room.”

““Ehh?””

Emi and Chiho shouted in this room which looked like ten cats had
rampaged inside without any rest for one whole week.

“It had already become like this when I returned last night……
Urushihara and Camio could not do anything as well, but we don’t
know what will happen if we let him out. With the room in this state,
I feel embarrassed contacting Amane or the Landlady……

110
when I came back to my senses, it was already morning……”

“W, wait a moment, what you’re saying is that not only did this lizard
cause a ruckus in this room, it even ate the closet and the curtains?”

“Yeah……”

“I thought demons basically did not need to eat?”

“Logically, that is correct……”

“It’s probably because Kinanah happens to belong to the type of

clan who eats to show its dominance… chirp. Even I, who had
seen
various types of demons, rarely encounter this type of
demon…...chirp.”

“It’s lucky that he doesn’t eat plastic…… else even the computer may
be eaten by him……”

Taking a closer look, the hem of Urushihara’s clothes had become

tattered.

He had probably gone through a hard battle to protect his own living
space.

“H, he’s asleep now?”

“I subdued him with my secret technique.”

“Secret technique?”

“Ah, could it be……”

“Yeah, it’s that.”

Chiho remembered when Kamael attacked Sasahata High School in

the past, Urushihara had used holy magic to cast a spell to seal all the
doors and windows in the school.
“Then it should be fine now?”

“As if there will be no problems. He easily broke out of the cage

made by Emilia and Bell. My secret technique did not last long at all.
Before he went to sleep, he even said that he wanted us to prepare
more delicious food for him, it seems like we have been completely
looked down upon.”

“Is, is that so?”

Emi and Chiho were shocked about the destruction in the room, and
they were still standing stunned at the porch.

“No matter what, I have to think of how to explain to the Landlady

about the state of this room…… when it comes to this, she definitely
would not give any discounts……”

Maou was so troubled that he did not have the mental capacity to
invite the two of them to come in.

“Ah, b, but Maou-san, didn’t you repair the Shuto Expressway

before? If it’s just fixing this room, it shouldn’t be that hard for you,
right?”

Chiho comforted Maou in a rather agitated manner----

“I tried it already, but all the demonic magic had been absorbed
by this guy, and the areas this guy had eaten could not be repaired
at all.”

But after listening to Maou’s explanation, Chiho noticed that Kinanah

was one size bigger compared to yesterday.

“Not only that, he will continue to make a ruckus after absorbing

demonic magic, just subduing him took us a good few hours.”

It seemed like there was no other way.

No, if Kinanah bit through the floors and walls the next time he woke
up, perhaps even Room 101, where Emi’s father Nord lived and
Suzuno’s Room 202 might be affected.

Despite that, even if he was placed outside, or moved to Suzuno’s or

Nord’s rooms, it might only worsen the damage.

“He still wants us to prepare delicious food, what should we do……”

“Since all of you can eat the food humans eat when you’re human,
then what about just feeding him food which can be eaten by
lizards? I’m not too sure what reptiles normally eat though.”

Emi gave a simple and clear suggestion, but Urushihara rejected it,
shaking his head,

“The pet shops around here only sell dog or cat food. It’s not like I
can’t buy them through Jungle, but for live food, it would take a
longer time for shipping and delivery.”

““Live food……?””

This dangerous term caused the two girls to turn pale.

“It refers to things like home crickets or

mealworms……” “Urushihara-san, you can stop

explaining now!”

“Don’t show me those things, disgusting!”

On the screen of the laptop which Urushihara passed over displayed

a large number of photos containing live food found on shopping
sites.

The live food eaten by land crawling reptiles or amphibians would

usually be crickets or similar insects.
But very few girls would like to see photos of a large number of
insects.

“Seriously, this is nothing. Apologise to the people who like insects. If

they were keeping large reptiles or amphibians, the images would be
bloodier. For example, the friends of cockroaches or frozen rats……”

“Urushihara-san!”

“Didn’t we tell you to stop, if you’re not careful, I might just kill you,
yeah?”

The killing aura emitted by the two females caused Urushihara to

shrug and give up.

“A, anyway, what should be done now……”

“Didn’t we take care of a cat for some time? I called Yoshimura-san,

the vet who helped us at that time, and although this will depend on
the species, it appears that lizards can eat raw chicken, so I want to
try feeding him that first……”

In the past, on a stormy night, Maou had picked up a shivering

abandoned cat and brought it home.

After the kitten, named Ginshari, had been cared for at the Demon
Fortress for a period of time, it had been adopted by the boss of the
bicycle shop whom Maou knew because of the recommendation
made by the nearby vet.

“If he doesn’t eat……”

“I don’t really want to consider that situation, but it would be better

than him eating the sliding door paper or the tatami…… the
supermarket should be opening soon, I’m sorry, I’ll pay later, so can
the two of you help to buy some chicken breast meat……”
“Chirpp……”

It felt as if Camio was a little frightened of the term chicken breast

meat, Chiho was probably not imagining it.

Either way, Emi and Chiho, who could no longer bear to look at the
destruction within Room 201, left temporarily because they agreed
to help buy things.

“Luckily, Alas=Ramus is still sleeping……”

When they left the apartment, Emi said this, sounding slightly
relieved.

“Alas=Ramus-chan is interested in lizards?”

“Wasn’t she very interested in Camio and Ginshari? Basically, she

seems to like every animal, and if it was a lizard of that size, she
would probably run over and grab his tail.”

Alas=Ramus liked animals.

When she first saw Camio in chicken form, she chased Camio around
excitedly and then Ginshari was still in Room 201, everytime Emi
returned home from work, Alas=Ramus who make a fuss and ask to
see the meow-meow.

The ceramic dog accessory which Maou bought for Alas=Ramus

when Ginshari was adopted was currently Alas=Ramus’s treasure,
placed carefully in Emi’s room.

Recently, as long as videos of marine animals are showing on the

television, she would sit in front of the television and refuse to leave.
But that is bad for the eyes, so I still asked her to move back.”

“She likes fish?”

“There was a period where she kept watching videos on Ise Lobsters
and schools of fish swimming together in the sea.”

Emi turned back to look towards the apartment with a troubled

smile.

“Regardless, allowing foreign creatures which are even stranger than

angels and demons to enter Japan is not a good thing.

Let’s just quickly buy the things and go back.”

“That’s true……”

Emi increased her walking pace and Chiho, following behind her,
mumbled while feeling perplexed,

“What’s wrong with Yusa-san recently?”

Recently, it felt as if Emi was acting a little different from usual again.

It was difficult to pinpoint what exactly was different, but her change
this time seemed to be larger compared to the time she was rescued
from Ente Isla.

However, rather than investigating more on this, the more important

task right now was to buy chicken breast meat.

The topic of a strange creature causing a mysterious meteor pit at

Yoyogi Park had become a huge commotion at MHK City News..

No deaths or injuries had occurred, but traffic control had to be set

up around the part of the road which had sunken in. In addition, a
huge creature appearing the city center really went against all logic,
skipping all the possibilities that it might be an illegally kept or
smuggled pet, giving rise to the theory that it might be a biological
terrorist attack.
Amane and Suzuno tried their best to fill up the meteor pit in the
backyard, but if Kinanah absorbed demonic magic under some
circumstances and lost control, and Maou and the rest could not
handle it……

“Let’s just buy chicken leg, minced pork, minced beef and raw fish at
the same time.”

It was not known what Kinanah liked to eat, but at the very least,
these were much better than the tatami or the sliding door paper.

If they could avoid more trouble by buying more types of meat, the
price would be worth it.

After Chiho mentioned this suggestion, she walked quickly until she
was side by side with Emi.

The blinking movement of a reptile was so strong that it was as if one

could hear the ‘Pa-cha’ sound.

No, Kinanah was still a demon from the Demon World, and although
it was unknown if the Renrebellbebelbe could be considered reptiles,
less than ten minutes after Emi and Chiho left, Kinanah opened its
eyes, causing Maou, Urushihara and

Camio to shudder.

Ever since Kinanah appeared, they had been unable to predict his
actions, so this reaction was to be expected.

Camio had even been harmed by him before, so he was probably

more afraid.

『Hm…… it feels really warm. 』

They had thought that Kinanah would break the holy magic
chains which were tied around that crocodile-like mouth, but he
actually said this in a calm tone.

『Is the war over? 』

They did not realise this before, but Kinanah was using the language
of the Demon World. They just did not understand it because of his
strong accent.

This was not because Kinanah had a crocodile-like mouth, but

because the terms he used were too ancient.

『Those from the Legion did not come today? 』

“War? Legion?”

『This is normal. After all, as long as Caminijah and I are around,

those from the Legion are not our match. Hey, Satan. Ask

Caminijah to come over quickly. I need to take a look at his

demon sword. 』

“Uh, erhm, wait a moment, ah (Wait a moment, what are you talking
about?)”

Maou frantically switched to the language of the Demon World.

『The demon sword. Bring the Nothung over. 』

“(Nothung?)”

That was one of legacies of the Ancient Demon King Satan, but the
Nothung found by Camio should have been placed within the Demon
Fortress in Ente Isla.

『Nothung, yes, the Nothung. Satan, that sword should still be with
Caminijah. Reforging that sword is my job. Nothung…… the
Nothung…… 』

“…… What do the two of you think about this?”

Using Japanese, Maou asked Urushihara and Camio this question.

“Even if you ask that.”

Urushihara replied irritatedly.

“He might just have dementia, yeah?”

“I think so as well peep.”

Camio agreed with a new ending sound.

“Ever since the angel Kamael and I saw Kinanah in the cave where he
lived in peep, he had mistaken me for my father Caminijah peep.”

“That ending sound is really irritating to listen to, so please don’t use
it anymore. Sigh, so it is like that after all huh.”

Misidentifying others, eating strange things, repeating incoherent

things.

In human terms, these were the classic symptoms of dementia.

“I deduced that this Kinanah might just be the oldest demon in the
Demon World peep. There are not many demons who will think of
the name Caminijah once they see the Pahalo Denino clan. Since he
knows my father, then the 『Satan』he mentioned…… “

“Is the Ancient Demon King Satan after all.”

Maou swallowed nervously, and Urushihara looked towards Kinanah

with a grim expression.

“When I asked the vagrant demons for information on the Ancient

Demon King Satan’s legacies, I realised that there was an
unexpectedly large number of related legends and clues. I feel
embarrassed about this, but with regards to the legend that the

Nothung used to be the sword wielded by Caminijah, I heard about

this from demons who were not from the Pahalo Denino clan.”

Adramelechinus’ Demonic Spear was obviously a weapon passed

down through the generations in Adramelech’s Azure Horn clan, but
the Nothung was possessed by the Pahalo Denino clan in the past.

However, Camio did not know about this despite being the clan
leader of the Pahalo Denino clan, this was truly a rather
embarrassing fact.

“There are so many things which are surprisingly close to us.”

Maou said this in awe, but since he had united the Demon World, of
course all the information and factors would be gathered around
him.

After Camio asked many demons and used a sheer amount of

manpower, the Ginkan no Mado was found within an old furnace
deep within the ruins of an extinct clan.

“However, many legends have described that the Astral Gem was the
Renrebellbebelbe’s『collar』, and the only one to match the
legends is this Kinanah……”

An excited smile appeared on Maou’s initially anxious expression.

“We’re lucky, it appears that other than the legacies, we might have
an opportunity to know about what happened between

Heaven and the Demon World, and what Sataniel did.”

“Is that so?”

120
He had a chance to find out what his father, who he practically did
not remember, had done before, but Urushihara’s expression was
very indifferent.

“Based on his actions during the past two days, he clearly has
dementia. Can we really manage to obtain the information we want
from him without any problems? He lived for at least a few thousand
years, right?”

『Nothung…… bring the Nothung…… 』

“Fortunately, we have Camio to trigger Kinanah’s memories from

that time period. And we can mostly understand what he said.

The names Sataniel and Caminijah have been mentioned, the only
term we do not understand is Legion.”

This was the first time Maou and Urushihara heard this term, but
from how Camio encountered Kamael when he made contact with
Kinanah, it was not difficult to deduce that it referred to the angels
from Heaven.

『 That’s right…… Legion, we have to defeat the Legion. Quickly

defeat the Legion…… Caminijah, what are you doing. Caminijah, if
you don’t hurry…… the Nothung will become dull. 』

“Let’s just feed him some food first, then ask Lailah and Gabriel if
they have any impression of the term Legion.”

“But if 『Legion 』 refers to angels, then why didn’t he react to me,

Lailah and Emilia? We still have angel blood in us after all.”

“Of course, that’s because……”

Maou wanted to gloss over the topic, but immediately realised that it
was a topic which could not be glossed over.
“…… Uh, I wonder what the reason is? Is it because of appearance?”

“Appearance?”

“Yeah, the colour of your hair and Lailah’s hair is purple now. When
the Landlady came earlier, you hid inside the closet and did not come
out to meet anyone, the key should be silver hair and red eyes
right?”

“If that is the case, then Sariel and Raguel would meet the
requirements too…… but it is a lizard with dementia after all, so
there might not be a need to think about it so deeply.”

“Since there are no issues now, then let’s put it aside for now. We
can’t expect to solve everything in one go, and……”

Maou surveyed the room.

“I still need to tell Ashiya about the state of the room and the fact
that I failed the selection.”

“With the current situation, this might not be that important……”

“Considering future events, this is very important, in various ways.”

“I don’t think so though.”

Just as Urushihara was doubting Maou----

“Sorry for the wait…… wah, he’s already awake! I’ll make something
immediately!”

“We bought some other things at the same time. Looking at all of
you now, you probably haven’t eaten breakfast yet?”

Chiho and Emi came back, holding shopping bags in both hands.

The smell of cooked food caused Maou and Urushihara to remember

that they were hungry and even Kinanah, who had been
continuously mumbling ‘Nothung’, suddenly stopped and sniffed the
air.

“Fried chicken is amazing……”

Maou said weakly, feeling relieved. Urushihara, Emi and Chiho

nodded, agreeing to this.

What caught Kinanah’s interest was not the raw chicken, but the
fried chicken Chiho bought for Maou and the others.

After Kinanah finished three boxes of fried chicken, he laid on the

floor and started sleeping. How such a small body managed to hold
so much food was a mystery.

Other than vegetarians, it was likely that no one disliked fried

chicken, but the fact an ancient demon from a foreign world liked it
surprised everyone greatly.

“I have mixed feelings chirp.”

Only Camio, who was almost turned into fried chicken, appeared to
be a little depressed. Either way, one of Maou’s side dishes had been
snatched away by Kinanah.

Therefore, Chiho made up her mind and stepped into the room,
carefully walking on the scratched floorboards to make scrambled
eggs with pork, and when this dish had been eaten together with the
rice, Maou and Urushihara finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Mama, what is that?”

“Papa and I do not really know too.”

At this moment, Alas=Ramus woke up. She sat on Emi’s lap and
looked at Kinanah from some distance away.
Emi was hugging Alas=Ramus because she wanted to prevent
Alas=Ramus hurting herself by running around in the damaged room.

“Is that a wan-wan?”

“It’s not a wan-wan. Sigh, it should be considered a lizard, I guess?”

“Riward? Is it a meow-meow?”

“It’s probably very different from a meow-meow.”

Alas=Ramus, who did not know about reptitles all that much, tried to
categorise Kinanah into the animals she knew about.

“Then again, what is this guy? I guess he might hold some clues
about the war between Sataniel and Ignora, but what is important
right now is the Astral Gem, isn’t it?”

“The connection between this guy and the Astral Gem is still unclear,
and he seems to know about the other legacies. Perhaps he has
some information which we do not know about right now but might
be useful in the battle later on.”

“Even if he does know something, it would still be information from a

few thousand years ago. It probably won’t be of any value, right?”

Chiho thought that even if Kinanah clearly knew about that battle in
the past, it was something which happened when Heaven left their
home planet and migrated to Ente Isla’s moon, and at that time,
humans had not even appeared.

Even if the events of that era had significant historical value, it

probably would not help in deciding the actions taken in the current
era.

“About that, I don’t agree.”

Maou looked strangely confident.

“Gabriel mentioned it before, compared to the total population of
Heaven, the number of people they can utilise is abnormally few.
This might not just apply to battle, if the people who can ensure that
society continues to function are also very few, then it would be vey
difficult for technology to improve, right?”

“Even if that is true, it would be impossible for them to remain

unchanged for a few thousand years.”

“Of course, but knowing some basic information about their side is
not a bad thing. For example, those angels are unlikely to live
outdoors and exposed to the elements, right? If we can obtain
information about their base and the scale of the city, or roughly
know about what facilities or military equipment they have, we
would be able to respond more quickly when we encounter a
situation.”

“Can’t we ask Gabriel-san or Sariel-san directly? I think they

would know more about the recent situation…… if not, we can
also ask Lailah-san.”

Chiho’s simple question caused Maou and Urushihara to glance at

one another.

“Sasaki Chiho, do you really think that their information is reliable?”

“Eh?”

Chiho widened her eyes in surprise, and the trio had serious
expressions on their faces.

“With regards to Lailah, we have asked just about all the questions
we can ask her, and we have realised that she knows nothing about
fighting.”

Maou remembered how Lailah easily obtained a serious injury when

she faced the rampaging Iron.
“It’s not as if she can’t fight at all, but that is just her individual
fighting ability. She used to be a doctor, so her knowledge about

Heaven’s 『 Military Strength 』 is lacking. Even if she does possess

relevant knowledge, she left Heaven a few hundred years ago, so the
information would not be reliable at all.”

The expression on Emi’s face appeared to be more complex when

compared to Maou.

“It would be more troublesome when it comes to Gabriel and Sariel.

The Battle to Defeat God is not a game which can be cleared by just
defeating the boss. After that, we still have to continue surviving in
the existing society.”

The factions which have been gathered to go against Ignora, who

ruled Heaven, could be simply categorised into the demons,
consisting of Maou, Ashiya, Urushihara, Camio, the Malebranche
Chieftians and the other demons in the Demon World.

There were the Saint Aire Knights and socerers from the Sorcery
Management Institute who had been picked and led by

Emerada and Lumark.

There were priests from the Theocracy in which the core group were
made up of members from the Doctrinal Correction Council led by
Suzuno.

There were the Hakin Knights from the Eastern Continent, Afsahan
who listened to the orders from Ashiya, the one who represented
the authority of the Unifying Azure Emperor.

The Japanese from the foreign world, consisting of Chiho, Emi’s

friend Suzuki Rika and Ooguro Amane.

The Sephirah children, Alas=Ramus, Acies and Iron.

The ones who turned their backs on Heaven, the place they were
going to attack in te future, Gabriel and Lailah.

Saint Aire’s citizens, Emi and Nord.

All of them were comrades who participated in the Battle to Defeat

God, but they could be split into so many groups.

Amongst these members, Alberto and Urushihara might be the only

ones who could fight purely for the reason of saving the humans.

Even if Alberto was born in the Northern Continent, he had assisted

Emi and Emerada as one of the Hero’s comrades, travelling around
the world, and because he did not have any attachment to his
hometown, he could join any faction.

Currently, Urushihara kept his word and stayed with Maou and the
others, but that was simply because doing so would be the most
beneficial to him. With his personality, he did not care what
happened to the world after that.

But the others could not do the same.

Everyone had somewhere they belonged, and when the war ended,
they needed to continue protecting their homeland.

Maou and Ashiya had to take responsibility for the future of the
demons.

This was obvious for Lumark, the Unifying Azure Emperor and the
others who still had their own countries to protect; Emi and

Nord still had their hometown of Sloan in the Western Continent.

To Gabriel and Sariel, Heaven was the only place which they could
call their hometown.
Of course, it was possible that they have already given up on their
hometown, but the goal of the Battle to Defeat God was to remove
Ignora’s control over Ente Isla from the shadows, rescuing
Alas=Ramus’s siblings, and annihilate the faction known as

Heaven.

They would not annihilate all the angels, but after defeating Ignora,
they would have to think about how to prosecute them.

Considering the situation after the battle, even if it would cause a

disadvantage in the Battle to Defeat God, Gabriel and Sariel would
likely withhold necessary information to protect their own kind.

“Haah, I do think that Sariel would not be in the mood to think about
these things now……”

““Ah……”

Chiho and Emi agreed with awkward smiles, but Maou looked very
serious.

“It’s not funny at all. Who knows what kind of effect Kisaki-san’s
transfer would have on Sariel’s mental state. If he feels that this
world has no longer any value to him after Kisaki-san gives him the
cold shoulder, he might rejoin Heaven and become our enemy. Doing
that is still alright, I’m just worried that he would cause a ruckus in
Japan just to hinder us.”

In reality, if Sariel really did such a thing, Amane, Shiba, and the
other Earth Sephirah definitely would not stand by and watch, but
even then, Sariel was still a troublesome hinderance in various ways.

“I should have killed him that time.”

When Emi remembered the humiliation she faced at the hands of

Sariel when he first arrived in Japan, her murderous spirit rose up.
“I would think the same thing everytime he causes trouble because
of something related to Kisaki-san, but don’t say such dangerous
things in front of Alas=Ramus.”

“……”

“What’s wrong?”

On reflex, Emi covered her mouth which said the ‘kill’ word easily,
this action caused Alas=Ramus to look up in response while showing
an innocent smile. It seemed like she was not bothered by those
murderous words at all.

“No matter what we say now, it’s already too late. And saying that
Gabriel and Sariel are completely on our side is also a little strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“Uh, there aren’t any concrete examples, it’s just that after
consolidating what Gabriel said before, the information I obtained in
the past and what I thought about on the way to see Chi-chan
participate in the Jirga…… I can’t express it clearly, but I feel that
something is amiss.”

“Amiss?”

“Because I did not expect things to turn out like this, I did not pay
attention to a lot of things I was told about, or I did not remember
them well, but in the end, some things did not match up when put
together. Then this guy appeared, so I was hoping that he could help
to clear up this situation.”

Just like what Maou said, as if he had not organised his thoughts, he
sounded unusually vague---

“That’s true, I gained an overall understanding of the situation after

listening to Mother’s explanation, but I still have some questions.
Even if I feel that these things would not have a direct impact on the
following battle, like you, I have an uneasy feeling.”

But after seeing Emi nod seriously, Chiho noticed something which
was unrelated to the matter at hand.

That was one of the reasons she felt something was strange during
the shopping trip.

It was not a rapid change, but changes had occurred in Emi.

Emi started to accept Maou’s words without protest when she

conversed with him.

If it was Emi in the past, once she noticed that Maou was being
vague, she would definitely direct sarcastic remarks at him first, then
express her opinion.

“But how much time do you plan to spend on interrogating this

lizard? We probably don’t have much time to spend on this, right?”

Or perhaps Emi was acting the same as usual.

Emi’s harsh sentence caused Chiho to change her mind.

She felt that her understanding of Emi had decreased recently.

“The real problem here, is that we can’t even confirm if we have

found the Astral Gem. It’s still not too late to ask this old man about
it after we confirm this.”

“It might be an old woman.”

“It doesn’t matter whichever one it is.”

Maou brushed off Urushihara’s meaningless comment, and said,

“We might be able to get this done before the repairs on the Demon
Fortress are finished. We can’t contribute much right now.

130
With Camio this injured, we can’t send him to the Demon World to
continue his search without confirming Kamael’s whereabouts. If so,
we can only try our best to take care of this lizard.”

“To save the world, we need to take care of an old lizard huh……
can’t a new clue appear every time a strong enemy is defeated, and
we just need to keep fighting until it ends?”

“Now that I think about it, isn’t that your speciality?”

“That’s why I hate this kind of situation. Haah, it can’t be helped.

Lucifer, Bell and Alsiel can’t come back frequently and Camio is like
this.”

Then Emi said something which shocked Chiho, Urushihara and even
Maou.

“I will make time to come here to help watch that lizard.”

“““Eh?”””

“Of course, when my schedule and your schedule overlap, you would
have to handle it yourself. And I will only help to watch him, after all
even if this lizard says something related to the past events in the
Demon World, I won’t be able to judge if it’s important or not.”

Emi said this, looking straight at Maou.

“And since I’m doing this, you better tell the Landlady about the
situation of this room as soon as possible and ask her to help fix this
room. Me coming here means that Alas=Ramus will be with me. If
she cuts her hands or feet by accident, or foreign matter gets into
her eyes, it won’t be good.”

““……””

“O, oh.”
Urushihara and Chiho were shocked speechless and Maou was
suppressed by Emi’s aura.

“Alas=Ramus is happy too, right? You can come to Papa’s house

more frequently like this.”

“Really?!”

When the three of them were in shock, Emi raised Alas=Ramus’s

expectations, forcefully pushing her decision through.

In a sense, the fact that Emi was willing to help watch Kinanah was a
welcome decision, but she had taken up this task before the rest of
them could suggest anything, and this perplexed Maou.

With regards to taking care of Kinanah, Maou had not included Emi
into the roster since the beginning.

That was because Emi rarely went along with Maou’s wishes.

“But, is, is this really alright?”

Therefore, he could not help but ask this in confirmation.

“Is there a problem?”

Emi answered with another question.

“No, there’s no problem. It’s a huge help. I’ll be depending on you

when the time comes.”

The Hero had obtained the permission to freely enter and leave the
Demon Fortress from the Demon King.

It was to late to be hung up on this, but until now, Emi had always
been treated as an uninvited guest, and Maou and the others only let
her enter the Demon Fortress with great reluctance because she
kept coming over without warning, so this was considered a historic
event.

However----

“Yusa-san, helping Maou-san like that…… aren’t you pushing yourself

too much?”

After leaving Villa Rosa Sasazuka, Chiho could not help but ask this.

Since a long time ago, Chiho hoped that Emi and Maou could get
along peacefully, just like neighbours.

Emi’s attitude had softened recently, and the number of

opportunities she had to interact with Maou were so numerous that

Chiho felt jealous.

But it felt that this time was different from all the others before this.

With Emi’s attitude gradually softening, Chiho found it harder and

harder to tell what she was thinking, but Emi had stopped at the
stage of trying not to bring her personal feelings into work, no longer
criticising what Maou did, or no longer hesitating because Maou and
her had to work together.

She had told Camio that ‘she was the Demon King’s enemy’, yet she
spent time and money to take care of Maou today, and in the end,
made that kind of agreement.

Chiho was not so immature to suspect that Emi liked Maou just from
this, but she still wanted her inner doubts answered.

“Am I……pushing myself too much? Yeah.”

Unexpectedly, Emi agreed with Chiho’s words without any

hesitation.
“Is it that obvious?”

Then she asked this uneasily.

If it was Emi in the past, once the people around her remind her like
this, even if she did end up helping Maou in the end, she would
brush it aside with some vague response or rebuke it in some way.

“Maou-san probably did not notice though……”

“Lucifer is strangely acute when it comes to this kind of thing, so he

might have realised it.”

Emi said with a stiff expression.

And to think that just now, she had an aggressive smile on her face
and had spoken with a tone of voice which made it seem like she was
doing Maou a favour.

“…… Mama, are you alright?”

Holding Emi’s hand, Alas=Ramus frowned and looked up at Emi in

concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine…… just a little uneasy.”

“You feeling uneasy, it’s probably not related to Kinanah-san, right?”

As usual, Chiho begun to use honorifics to address the lizard, and Emi
smiled, as if she gained some comfort from it.

“If only everyone stayed the same, just like you.”

“Eh?”

“…… Sorry, can we take a short break?”

The two of them arrived at a park, before Alas=Ramus merged with
Emi’s holy sword, Ashiya and Suzuno would frequently bring
Alas=Ramus here.

“Are you alright?”

Emi sat on the bench with her head lowered and Chiho stole a glance
at the side of Emi’s face which was covered by her long hair.

“Hey, Chiho. Do you think that the Demon King is still a 『King』?”

“Eh?”

“After this battle ends, I wonder what that guy plans to do.”

“…… Are you referring to after defeating Ignora and rescusing

Alas=Ramus-chan’s silbings?”

“We might be reluctant, but Ente Isla’s history will start to move. A
once united will scattered around different lands, moving towards
different futures. At that time, what will happen to him and the
Demon World?”

“Magic will disappear.”

After Emi freed herself from the commotion in Ente Isla’s Eastern
Continent and returned to Japan, the personification of the eleventh
Sephirah of Earth, Shiba Miki, had said this in the hospital ward
which Urushihara was admitted to.

If the people of Ente Isla continued to use holy magic and demonic
magic like they did currently, humans would definitely perish in the
near future.

Holy magic was spiritual energy which cycled around the planet.
If the flow was slowed, it would be impossible to generate the souls
which could latch onto the physical body, and the human population
would gradually decrease.

Orignally, the Sephirah children would assist the humans in the

evolution of civilisation, therefore there should not be that many
people who could use the supernatural energy generated by holy
magic or demonic magic.

“Rather than saying that magic will disappear, it’s more like we can’t
use it anymore. But in reality, no one knows how much the world
would change after saving Alas=Ramus’s siblings.”

Disappearing or being unable to use it, both of these meant the same
thing to the user.

“However, if an energy which could be used normally in the past

gradually becomes unusable, the world would probably descend into
panic, and to pursue new sources of energy, wars would definitely
happen. All the industries which replied on holy magic and spells
would change too.”

“But Lumark-san, Din Dem Urs obaa-chan and the people of the
Eastern Continent would try their best to bring the chaos under
control.”

“For that sort of thing, no one would know until the end. Whether
it’s Lumark-san, Din Dem Urs-sama or the Unifying Azure

Emperor, they have to prioritise the protection of their own country

first, this is a natural response. There would definitely be sacrifices in
the future. As long as humans have not died out, there will be
conflict, but at that time, I will no longer be the Hero.”

She had inherited angel blood, but most of Emi’s power came from
holy magic.
Once she lost holy magic, Hero Emilia would just be a human known
as Emilia Justina.

“I will become a normal person. And depending on how quickly the

world changes, my body would quickly become no different

from a Japanese person. I might die just from being slashed by a

sword. I won’t be capable of flying in the air, and I would get hurt
from jumping down from a high place. When I get a serious injury, I
would only heal after a long time. And even if it ends up at that
point……”

After Emi said this in a weak and shaky voice, she looked up at the
sky.

“That guy would still lead the 『demons』…… a king leading his own
citizens.”

There were more humans taking part in the Battle to Defeat God
than demons.

The current topic mainly focused on holy magic, but if they were to
believe Shiba’s explanation, freeing the Sephirah would probably
cause a huge change in demonic magic.

At that time, what would the demons in the Demon World do?

Definitely, they would want to continue living on.

But after losing demonic magic, what kind of power do they depend
on to live?

The answer was simple, and Emi had seen it many times.

Whether it was Maou, Ashiya or Urushihara, they were always

enjoying their food every time they ate their meals, weren’t they?
To pursue the ‘replacement’ for demonic magic, before demonic
magic disappeared completely, the demons might invade Ente Isla
again.

At that time, who would be the ones standing at the front lines of
the invasion?

Who would be the ones responsible for fighting against the invasion?

If they wanted to fight against an invasion driven by demonic magic

which was going to disappear in the future, then they could only
depend on holy magic which was going to disappear in the future.

“Is there anything which could make him stay in Japan and prevent
him from doing other foolish things before the end of the

Battle to Defeat God?”

Emi had hoped for this before.

No, since a long time ago, Emi had been hoping for something since
she reunited with Maou in Japan, Chiho just did not know about this.

She hoped that Maou could get his wish of becoming a full-time
employee in this world.

Then spend the rest of his life in Japan like this.

Even if it was a very difficult thing to do, she still hoped that Maou
could stay in this world for as long as possible.

For a long time, Emi already knew that Maou really wanted to fit into
Japan’s society.

But there was no hope for this path.

The path to becoming a ‘full-time employee’, which could make

Maou stay in Japan, was sealed.
And the situation in which he would be forced to choose aonther
path was imminent.

Even if he wanted to become a full-time employee and learn about

human society, that situation would cause ‘Satan’ to be unable to
priortise the fulfilment of his ‘personal wish’.

Emi knew that there were still many demons who worshipped Satan
as a king, even if he had fallen to a human state.

That man, could not abandon those demons.

If he could not abandon them, then he could only choose to fight.

Fight with who?

“I hate that.”

Chiho looked at Alas=Ramus’s back and mumbled this softly, the

latter was currently using a branch she picked up near both their feet
to draw a mysterious elephant picture.

“I had always said that I disliked seeing Yusa-san and Maou-san

fight.”

“…… Yeah.”

“Suzuno-san, Emerada-san, Alberto-san, Din Dem Urs obaa-chan,

Lumark-san, Ashiya-san, Urushihara-san, Camio-san, Farfarsan,

Libicocco-san, Ciriatto-san…… no matter who it is, I don’t wish for

them to fight.”

Although everyone was staying at the same area right now.

Although everyone had made chocolate together.

Why did all of this have to fall apart after they got rid of the
existence corrupting the world?
That was the world, that was the nation, that was politics, that was
the economy, that was humanity.

Even without any special reminder, Chiho understood this principle.

Because to everyone participating in the Battle to Defeat God, this

was just a ‘business trip’.

After ‘returning home’ in the future, they still needed to live in their
own dwellings.

If it became very difficult to live in their dwellings.

Then they could only fight for survival.

Emi’s moan seemed to have obtained a solid form, getting sucked

into the ground like dirt.

“Humans and demons have fought for so long, but the seeds of
conflict are always present. How long do we have to walk before we
can rest?”

“That’s right……”

“I don’t care who it is, but I really hope someone can fulfil his
dream. Then I don’t have to worry about bringing sadness to this
child in the future.”

The Battle to Defeat God.

The main goal of this battle was to rescue Alas=Ramus’s siblings.

However, if Alas=Ramus grew up and realised that the price of

rescuing them was to have her most beloved Papa and Mama meet
each other on the battlefield, how would she react?

At that time, would she still love this world like how she did now?

140
Would she end up like Kael and Shakeenah who had planned to
destroy Ignora’s and Sataniel’s research in the past?

Full-time employee.

This term sounded funny when said out loud.

The economy was not doing well, but there were still countless
people becoming full-time employees every year, every month,
every day.

Why was this hardworking, serious and capable person unable to join
their ranks?

During this time of the year, even university graduates might receive
rejection letters from dozens of companies during their job hunt.

Currently, Maou was rejected by only one company, it was still too
early to conclude that his dream of becoming a full-time employee
was dashed.

However, other than it being his personal wish, Maou did not have a
reason to insist on becoming a full-time employee.

Even if he failed to become a full-time employee, his life would

not take a turn for the worse.

He did not need to save for his wedding or his child’s education, did
not need to take care of any parents and did not need to save for his
retirement.

He had worked so hard until now simply because he wanted to be

a full-time employee.

“I told him that I liked him, but he has not given me any reply yet.”

Chiho intentionally said this in a light and unconcerned tone.

“If Chiho-chan can’t keep him, then I doubt anyone else can do it.”

A conclusion would not be reached by analysing a problem with no

solution, and it would only cause one to sink deeper into it.

Chiho suggested to end this topic here, and Emi forced a smile in
agreement.

So she stood up and said,

“Hey, Chiho-chan.”

“Yeah.”

“I.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t seem to dislike him who is working hard in Japan.”

Chiho answered with a wide smile,

“…… Recently, I feel that this might be the case.”

Emi smiled ruefully and Chiho also looked up with a happy smile.

“If only everything can go smoothly.”

“I don’t really know what kind of situation can be considered

『smooth』.”

At this moment.

“Chi-chan, Saemi~”

A voice calling out to the two of them was heard.

Chiho and Emi turned back in surprise, and Alas=Ramus also stood up
and turned around.
“Kisaki-san!”

“…… There’s a MgRonRon smell.”

Kisaki, wearing a suit, was waving at the both of them from the road
outside the park.
※
“Y, you’re serious about it……?”

“Do you think I would make such a joke?”

This was at the Demon Fortress in Ente Isla.

Ashiya was currently sitting on the six tatami space in the throne
room.

He sat cross-legged, watching Lailah getting up in surprise opposite

him.

“I have considered going there alone, but you were the one who
acted as the go-between the previous time. If so, it would make no
difference if you went a few more times.”

“T, that’s completely different. For this time, no matter how much I
try to convince her, she would not accept it……”

“Then think of a way to make her accept it.”

Ashiya said coldly.

“There’s no time. We don’t know the connection between Kinanah

and the Astral Gem, but we might gather all the legacies at any time.
Once we have all of them, we need to begin the Battle to Defeat
God. So we have to finish all the preparations before the start of the
battle, you should understand this as well.”

“But……”
“I think you should know that this matter cannot be revealed to
anyone. Especially Emilia and Emerada Etuva. Of course, this also
applies to Crestia Bell and Heather Lumark.”

“H, how about Mister Alberto?”

“…… He would probably be the first person to know after that, but I
wish to keep it from him at the moment.”

“B, but what if this matter gets found out before the start of the
Battle to Defeat God? At that time, forget about defeating

Ignora, everyone gathered here might just disband, you know?”

“As long as you do not leak any information, it would not be found
out. And in reality, no one knows about it right now.”

“Ugh.”

Lailah breathed in sharply.

“The Unifying Azure Emperor and part of the Hakin Knights know
about my plan.”

When Lailah breathed in sharply from Ashiya piling on the pressure,

she had already lost the right to interfere.

“I’m not the only one who thinks that time is tight. It’s just my
deduction, but I believe that that Lord Demon King did not pass the
full-timer promotion training.”

“Eh?”

Maou did not say anything about this, but Ashiya had concluded this
without any hesitation.

“When Lord Demon King participated in the training, he was filled

with confidence, believing that he would be hired, but some time
ago, I don’t feel that confidence and certainty from him. If he had
been hired, Lord Demon King would notify me as soon as possible.
Since Lord Demon King cannot fulfil his dream of becoming a full-
time employee, if we do not take this chance to solidify our strategy,
Lord Demon King might be forced to challenge new areas.”

Ashiya’s words were a threat.

Even if Ashiya made this threat, even if Maou regained his Demon
King Satan form right now, he would definitely not choose the path
which Lailah was thinking about.

But if she said this honestly, the negotiation would not succeed.

“Angel, hurry up and make a decision. For the future, we (demons)

have already chosen our path.”

Ashiya spoke, as if he was giving Lailah a lethal blow.

“Help me set up an audience with the Enclosure Leader, Din Dem

Urs.”
146
 Chapter 3 : Demon King, Making a
Huge Decision

“Haah.”

“……”

The store had just went through the peak lunch hour, and Maou’s
sigh could be heard from afar.

“Haah……”

However, during the break time in the evening, another groan was
heard from the Employee Room.

“……”

“I heard it again……”

“Yeah……”

Behind Emi, the other employees whispered this.

“Haah……seriously……”

After the peak dinner period ended, Emi heard that sigh again when
she was inspecting the kitchen.

“Hey!”

“……Yeah.”

Ten at night.

After Emi, who could get off work, changed her clothes, she went to
the kitchen and tapped Maou’s shoulder, then warned him, placing
her hand at her waist.

147
“Can you stop sighing, you cause the rest of us to lose motivation!”

“Ah……”

However, after Maou was lectured, he still lowered his head

listlessly.

“Sorry. I just feel really tired……fwah.”

He had just finished speaking when Maou let out another groan
mixed with a sigh.

“You haven’t been taking care of your health, right? You look like you
have recovered your spirit, but after you failed, your performance
has been bad, you know?”

“…… You’re noisy. I can’t sleep at all recently……”

Maou rebuked in irritation but reverted to a gloomy expression

afterwards.

“If not, you can try experiencing what it is like to be woken up by a

lizard with dementia every day and being unable to focus on work
because you’re worrying about him causing trouble.”

It was obvious that the lizard with dementia referred to Kinanah.

“If anything happens, I’m the only one who can handle it. Ashiya
seems to be travelling somewhere in Ente Isla for business and has
not returned to the Demon Fortress, Camio is still a chicken and
Urushihara and Suzuno cannot be at home every day. We can only
depend on the Landlady and Amane-san when its an emergency and
I have no expectations for Acies.”

“Even so, didn’t Bell come back today? Trust her a little.”
“This isn’t a matter of trust. The important point is after I go home, I
still have to be responsible for him, so with this, I still cannot relax
even if there is someone at home.”

“…… Is it that serious?”

“It’s not as serious as when he was eating the room……”

Maou started to count using his fingers while looking like he was
holding back a headache.

“Shouting loudly at night, extending his tongue to make a mess and

shitting on the futon.”

“Hey!”

Emi frowned when she heard an employee working in the food and
beverage industry say the term which could not be mentioned at
work.

From this, it could be seen how tired Maou was.

“Perhaps his appetite has grown, but he doesn’t want to eat fried
chicken now, and even if he ate only ten minutes ago, he would still
complain about being hungry and would cause a commotion when
we refuse to feed him. If not, he would mistake

Camio for Kaminijah and start fighting……”

“Wait a moment, you should have tied him up, right? Why are you
allowing him to cause this much trouble? Tomorrow will be the first
time I will be watching him for a long time, but I have never heard of
these things before, you know?”

Emi had volunteered to go to the Demon Fortress to help watch

Kinanah, but the working schedule for the week had already been
arranged, so tomorrow would be the first time she will be at the
Demon Fortress by herself.

“He’s still a living animal. If he dies from being tied up too tightly, we
will be the ones in trouble. After all, we still do ot know the
relationship between the lizard with dementia and the Astral Gem.”

When they caught Kinanah the first time, Maou had borrowed the
powers from Emi and Suuzno to tie Kinanah up with holy magic
ropes, but right now, there was another cardboard box placed next
to Camio and holy magic enveloped the cardboard box to lock him
inside.

However----

“As long as he moves around a lot, the cardboard box will fall over,
but if we try to secure the cardboard box to the floor, he would tear
the box apart. And in the first place, my house doesn’t have any
place which we can tie the box to.”

“Eh?”

Since they could use spells to lock him in, that it should be possible
to use spells to keep the box in place……

Perhaps Emi accidentally showed this thought on her face, Maou

elaborated before she spoke,

“Suzuno mentioned this before, Kinanah might be acting like this, but
he is considered weak in demon standards. If he gets exposed to
strong spells or holy magic for a prolonged period of time, his life
span might decrease.”

“He would be purified?”

150
“It might just turn out like that. I don’t know how many thousand
years he lived, but if he weakens and dies because we used wrong
rearing methods, that would be too tragic……”

From this explanation, that cardboard box was used to take care of
Kinanah rather than imprisoning him, but if the cardboard box hits
other things when falling over, Kinanah might just get hurt from that,
right?

Once Emi asked this----

“I know that very well, but there aren’t any better methods. I did ask
Suzuno to help prepare a heavier metal cage, or just get a cheap cage
and hang it in the air on a clothespole, but everything will turn to
naught if that guy moves around too much. Have you experienced a
metal cage hitting your head when you’re asleep? If would be fine if
it just hurts, but with Camio’s current state, he might just die from it.
That lizard with dementia just doesn’t know how ot control his
strength when he’s messing around, it’s so hard to handle……”

In the end, the reason why Maou looked so listless right now was
because he was tired from taking care of an elderly person.

If it was a blood related family member or someone he was indebted

to, he could still accept it, but Maou and Kinanah barely knew each
other.

He was only protecting Kinanah because Kinanah matched the

information with regards to the Astral Gem which had been gathered
by Camio.

Since Camio said he was part of the Renrebellbebelbe ‘clan’, this

meant he should not be the onl one.

Even if the gem on his neck attracted everyone’s attention, it might

just be an identifying feature of the Renrebellbebelbe.
Maou and the others wanted to place their bets that this was not
true, but they did not know what to gamble to make it such that
Kinanah was beneficial to them.

Maou had claimed that he wanted to gather information from the

ancient ages, but from how he was just complaining to Emi how
difficult it was to take care of the elderly, it was possible that nothing
useful had been obtained in the past week.

“So I’m sorry, I will try to avoid making everyone feel unhappy after
this, but just let me off today, I’m really tired……”

This undisciplined behaviour seemed to be how Maou expressed his

mental fatigue.

Emi did not look down on him because he had ended up like this
after just one week.

If the one being cared for was a human, the caretaker would be
under a huge burden, whether it was in finances, mental strength or
physical strength.

But at least Kinanah was unable to absorb demonic magic now and
cause the ground to cave in.

Kinanah’s strength and abilities were unknown, but Camio had been
seriously injured by him.

Since he had dementia, it was difficult to come up with a completely

preventive strategy.

Emi thought that in the worst case scenario, they might have to
consider killing him, but after listening to Maou’s explanation, she
was no longer sure what could be considered the ‘worst’ case
scenario.

So she exhaled lightly, trying her best to relax.

“I understand. I’m sorry for sounding like I’m lecturing you.”

“……Huh?”

“I will ask Bell to allow me to stay over for one night. You have to
work until closing today. If something happens, I will handle

it, so at least try to concentrate on your work for the remaining two
hours.”

“Oh……but what’s wrong with you?”

“What?”

He was very tired, but Maou still widened his eyes in surprised.

“You actually said such kind words.”

“It’s because you were really performing too poorly today and
causing a lot of trouble for others, so I had no choice but to help you.
Don’t think too deeply about it.”

“……Sorry.”

“It’s not as if this is the first day you experienced such a thing. I
should be asking what’s wrong with you instead.”

“Uh……”

“Goodbye, thank you for the hard work.”

“Oh, thank you for the hard work……”

When Maou faltered, Emi quickly ended the topic and left the store.

During this season, the nights were no longer bone biting cold.

Emi normally took the train at Sasazuka station, in the direction of

Meidaimae, to go home after work, but since she had already
promised Maou, it would be a waste to get off after one stop, so Emi
decided to walk towards Villa Rosa Sasazuka.

As she walked, Emi remembered what happened when she

coincidentally met Kisaki at the park.
※
“It’s rare to see the two of you in a park together……hm? This child
is……”

Kisaki immediately noticed Alas=Ramus standing next to Emi and

Chiho’s feet and showed an awkward smile.

“Since this child is here, it means both of you went to look for Maa-
kun just now.”

“ello!”

When Alas=Ramus met Kisaki’s gaze, she raised her hand and gave
an enthusiastic greeting----

“Yeah, hello. It seems like the all important 『Papa』 isn’t

around huh.”

Kisaki replied with a smile and looked for Maou at the same time.

“Erhm……something came up, so he asked us to take care of this

child.”

Chiho explained quickly.

Kisaki believed that according to societal norms, Maou should not

ask Chiho to help take care of Alas=Ramus.

Not only that, Kisaki still thought that Alas=Ramus was ‘Maou’s
relative’ and that she was ‘living at Maou’s house’ when she came.
If Alas=Ramus accidentally called Emi ‘Mama’, the situation would be
chaotic.

Emi seemed to understand this, so her expression was a little stiff.

However, after Kisaki listened to Chiho’s explanation, she just

nodded slightly.

“Maa-kun is really busy. If it’s convenient to mention, do you know

what he’s busy with?”

There should not be any problems if they admitted that a fierocious

lizard had been chewing up things in his room, but Kisaki would
probably not believe it.

“Actually…… Maou-san…… his grandfather was seriously injured, so

he has to take care of his grandfather……”

Therefore in a rather vague way, Chiho said the truth.

“I see……”

Kisaki pursed her lips.

“If I was the one to say it, he would probably not listen to my advice,
so please tell him indirectly that if he is really facing some trouble, I
can provide him some convenience by adjusting the work schedule. I
have similar experience as well, taking care of others would
definitely create some mental burden. I am not in the position to say
such things, but I hope that the two of you can help him as much as
possible if it’s within your ability.”

“I understand. I will pass on the message.”

“I’m counting on you. Especially when he is hitting a bottleneck in

various aspects right now.”

Emi and Chiho immediately understand what Kisaki was referring to.
“Will there be no more chances after failing the full-time employee
selection once?”

Emi gathered up her courage and asked this, after Kisaki replied,
‘Both of you heard about it already?’, she shook her head and
answered,

“No, of course there will still be chances in the future.”

““Eh?””

This unexpected answer caused Emi and Chiho to shout out at the
same time.

“But the earliest opportunity for a re-test would be one year later.”

“Ah, I see.”

That meant that the hiring exam would only be held once a year or
could only be taken once a year.

“But what does it mean by 『earliest opportunity』?”

“I might have mentioned this before, but the employees need to get
a nomination from the managing supervisor to take part in the
training and exam. This time, it needed approvals from me and the
Area Manager. Sigh, although the approval from the manager is
normally just a formality stamp.”

“Ah……”

With this explanation, Emi roughly knew what this was about.

“Yeah. The Shop Manager replacing me afterwards might not have

such authority. In the worst case, it might be possible that the Shop
Manager does not want to nominate anyone. I have met the next
Shop Manager a few times, but I have not done any
official handover, so even if there are employees who want to take
part in the hiring exam, I don’t know if the Shop Manager would be
willing to make a nomination.”

As implied by the position, the Shop Manager was the one in

charge of the shop.

They have to be responsible for everything related to the store, but

that also meant that in principle, the whole store was controlled by
the Shop Manager.

Depending on the personality of the new Shop Manager, he might

make things difficult for the employees who were well-liked by the
previous Shop Manager.

“In addition, Maa-kun is simply too capable as an employee. He is

meticulous and serious while working and can take up a lot of duties.
In addition, he is a working adult, but he’s flexible in his time. If he
accidentally becomes a full-time employee, they have to find another
employee to replace him. It’s really not easy to find an employee at
his level. If they do not want this to happen, the next Shop Manager
might use the reason that Maa-kun had already failed once before to
refuse the nomination.

This kind of situation is actually quite common……”

Kisaki explained further that if new Shop Managers were assigned to

stores which generated a good profit the previous financial year,
they would be under a lot of pressure.

In stores which generate a good profit, other than the previous Shop
Manager being very capable, it normally also meant that0 the
employees performed very well.

The Shop Managers assigned to this kind of store had to overcome

two obstacles.
The first one would be maintaining the stellar results.

In addition, they would worry if the employees would accept them.

If the new Shop Manager did not plan to carry on the methods of the
previous Shop Manager, and that well-performing store had
employees who worked there for a long time, also known as
veterans, those employees might just display a rebellious attitude.

If everything they did got compared to the previous Shop Manager

or bad things were said about them behind their back, it would still
be manageable.

However, not listening to instructions at work, slacking off at work or

resigning because they did not like the new Shop Manager, these
were all common occurrences.

In the worst case scenario, the new Shop Manager and the
employees might even be hostile towards each other.

At that time, the issues would not be as simple as whether an

employee should be nominated for the full-timer promotion training.

“B, but all of us are doing our work properly, and a lot of operation
types have been newly added at the store in front of

Hatagaya Station, the company would not send a strange person

over, right……”

“Everyone would normally think this way, yes? But strangely,

situations which the employees think 『Why did they send this kind
of person over』actually happens a lot. Sometimes, their opinion
might change afterwards, but it’s possible that even until they end,
they might encounter a new Shop Manager who causes other people
to think 『It’ll be better off without him』.
Before the new Shop Manager takes over officially, no one would
know how it would turn out. In the end, the relationship between
everyone in the workplace has to be considered.”

The workplace atmosphere is the collective accumulation of the

relationship of everyone in the workplace.

Sometimes, a person who had been perceived as useless might

become an independent worker after being guided by a capable
employee; but occasionally, even if everyone is capable, there might
be friction between them because each of their personalities were
too strong, thus affecting the performance of the store.

Of course, there are examples of new Shop Managers who

successfully unleased their full abilities and improved the profit
generated by the store, but most of the times, useless people are
simply useless and those people would only ruin the store
unknowingly, and it would just disappear from the scene.

Either way, after Kisaki left the store in front of Hatagaya Station
would never be the same again.

“Maa-kun…… in a sense, he is too used to my way of doing things.

With how magnanimous he is, he might get along with the new Shop
Manager, but he doesn’t he become strangely stubborn or agitated
sometimes? Or more accurately, he dislikes unreasonable things,
right?”

Kisaki observed her employees well.

Maou was the Demon King, yet he was too rigid when it came to the
‘principles’ of human society, to the point where others find it
strange.

“In addition, he’s a Shift Manager. I’m worried that he would push
himself too hard trying to adjust between the new and old systems.
If he gets into a conflict with the new Shop Manager, depending on
the personality of the new Shop Manager, he might be unable to
participate in the full-timer promotion training for the time being. Of
course, the new Shop Manager might be transferred later, but he
probably doesn’t have that much time, right?”

““Eh?””

“Maa-kun is almost at the age when he should start planning for his
future. Normally speaking, people would feel more anxious about
this when they are in their early twenties. No matter how anyone
thinks about this, continuing to work in MgRonalds for more than a
few years is unrealistic.”

““Ah!””

“Is there anything wrong?”

Chiho and Emi had just discussed about the deadline for the Battle to
Defeat God, so they accidentally misunderstood Kisaki’s words.
However, they immediately realised something was off and nodded
frantically.

““It’s nothing……””

“Twenty two years old, twenty five years old and twenty nine years
old, these three ages are important milestones in a person’s life.
Especially since Maa-kun did not go to university and became a
working adult immediately. If he is too fixated on his first wish of
becoming a full-time employee at MgRonalds, then he would not be
able to redo his life.

Even if what he truly could not redo was something else altogether,
but it would be meaningless to correct Kisaki now.

“Sigh, I think that this job is my vocation, but when I was job hunting,
because I felt uneasy, I immediately made a compromise and

160
entered this company after I confirmed that I have been recruited
into MgRonalds, so I have no right to perch about grand ideals……
and I don’t know how to encourage him.”

“Eh?”

This unexpected confession from Kisaki caused Chiho to widen

her eyes in surprise.

“Kisaki-san also felt uneasy before? What do you mean by

compromise?”

“At that time, there was a hiring slowdown…… I decided to enter the
food and beverage industry for the sake of my dream, but after
troubling over it, I stil decided to depend on a large enterprise, so it’s
considered a compromise. And the occupation of

Shop Manager is basically worrying about operation costs and if

profit is made.”

Kisaki showed a rather nostalgic smile.

“Chi-chan will understand in about three or four more years. The

scary part about job hunting is slightly different compared to taking a
high school or university entrance exam. Kouta must be struggling
desperately now.

Nakayama Kouta, who resigned from MgRonalds at the end of last

year, was currently in the third month of his third year of university.

The businesses who took action more quickly should have already
sent out their official rejection letters.

The business who only start their recruitment drives in the summer
of the fourth year of university should have begun their internships,
staff interviews or non-publicised selection processes.
Because they have to receive all kinds of information before getting a
clear picture of their future, it was easy to feel lost and confused
during this period.

“If Maa-kun is determined to become a full-time employee, it’s about

time he reaffirms that decision. He accumulated a lot of experience
during the period when he could not get a stable job, so he stands
out when compared with other people in similar situations, but if he
is compared with other job seekers around his age, he cannot avoid
being viewed with some negative bias.”

Kisaki’s comments were referring to the usual job hunting scene in

Japan.

It felt as if these things would not be able to ignite Maou’s passion so

that he would grow a desire to stay in Japan.

“In the end…… there will be a way.”

So Emi could not help but mumble this.

Because she had just finished complaining to Chiho, there was no

special meaning in that sentence----

“Haah, if he is wiling, even if the worst situation occurs, I can lend a

helping hand.”

“Eh?”

But these words from Kisaki felt strangely realistic, and it did not feel
like she was making an irresponsible comment.

“Haah, but I don’t have that much power yet and what matters the
most is what he thinks, so let’s just end this topic here. I’m going off
first. I’m actually heading to work now…… sorry for taking up so
much of your older sisters’ time.”
At the end, Kisaki spoke to Alas=Ramus in a gentle tone.

“Oh…… Chi nee-chan, I want to eat fries.”

Alas=Ramus nodded shyly, and perhaps because she discovered the

smell on Kisaki’s hand which was obtained at work, she started to ask
Chiho for a favour.

It was not a huge issue, but the fact that she did not ask Emi first
could only be attributed to a stroke of good luck.

“You just ate, right?”

“But fries……”

“Hahaha. At her age, she probably can’t help herself once she sees
food she likes. If you don’t mind, you can come by the store.”

“Alright. But going to work from here, this means that Kisaki-san’s
house is at……”

This park was close to the Keio line and was located between
Sasazuka and Hatagaya station.

However, when Kisaki appeared, she was walking towards the tracks.

“Eh? Chi-chan, you don’t know where I live?”

After saying this, Kisaki turned around nonchalantly and pointed

towards a certain direction.

“There, the apartment at the opposite street is where my house is.”

“Eh? So close!”

It was less than ten minutes away from the store.

Chiho thought that Kisaki probably drove or took a train to work, but
thinking about it carefully, she had never seen Kisaki commute.
“Do you live by yourself?”

“No, I live with my parents.”

“I, I see……”

The people Chiho interacted with recently mostly live alone or have
similar living arrangements, so the fact that Kisaki lived in her
childhood home felt very novel.

Considering Kisaki’s mannerisms, Chiho had assumed that Kisaki was

living an elegant life in a clean apartment by herself.

“If it wasn’t a local, how would I know about the academic situation
of the local schools.”

“Ah!”

Once Kisaki said this, Chiho remembered that when she went for the
interview at the store in front of Hatagaya station, she had talked to
Kisaki about the high school she was studying at.

“The issues Maa-kun is facing are very important, but Chi-chan

should be seriously preparing for exams soon, right? The events
around you and your own issues are equally important, and you
should act quickly on them when you can.”

“Al, alright…… I understand.”

“Then I really should be going.”

After watching Kisaki walk away quicky, Chiho pressed her hands
against her chest, as if she was a little surprised.

“I got a shock.”

“Is it that bad?”

“Just encountering someone outside when I normally only see them
in the store is already surprising enough. And she even lives
nearby……”

“Uh, is that so? Ever since I found out that the Demon King lives in
Sasazuka, I don’t get shocked over such things anymore.”

“Ah……”

After hearing Emi’s profound comment, Chiho felt her shock

dissipating rapidly.
※
After the peak lunch period ended, Kisaki left the store after saying ‘I
will come back before closing time today’, but even after

Emi got off work, Kisaki had not returned.

Because Kisaki was not around, they did not have to worry about
Sariel who had turned into a spirit that day. Other than Maou’s
strangely gloomy mood, it was mostly a normal day.

Emi was bothered by what Kisaki said, about ‘I can lend a helping
hand’.

To be able to say such words, Kisaki probably had some kind of plan.

With Kisaki’s personality, even if it was just a casual chat, she would
not say irresponsible things.

She must have some kind of basis to think that she might be able to
help Maou.

It was not known what the basis was, but to Maou, rather than the
vague idea of being employed by another company which was not
MgRonalds, something which Maou would not really want, it might
be better to accept Kisaki’s help.
“Why do I have to think about such things……”

Emi was worried that Maou not becoming a full-time employee

might lead to the demons and humans of Ente Isla reverting to their
old relationship.

She might be worried, but why must she worry about where Maou
would work?

From a Hero’s viewpoint, whether her enemy’s job was stable

was unimportant, but if she did not worry about this, it might
threaten world peace, so in the end, Emi still had to support
Maou.

Even if one wanted to call this a tragic situation, it was still too
messed up to do so.

“Haah, this is stupid.”

Emi dispelled these meaningless thoughts and took out her phone.

Because it was something she decided, she needed to contact

Suzuno and ask to stay over for the night.

Just as Emi was thinking this, she realised that her phone screen
showed that today was 12th of March.

“About that, I wonder if he has any plans.”

Emi thought back to when she saw Maou earlier and showed a
wry smile.

It was White Day in two days.

Including those given by Chiho and Suzuno. Maou had received a

frighting amount of chocolate on Valentine’s Day, and it seemed like
he could not finish all of them in the end.
The expiry date was a concern, but the chocolate Chiho had taught
the demons to make at that time, was a simple type which consisted
of melting down the chocolate bought at a shop and re-molding
them.

As long as they were put in a fridge or a shady place, even after some
time has passed, either the chocolate will harden or its fat content
will degrade. It probably would not become inedible.

However, White Day did not wait for anyone.

If a fulfilling life was led everyday, one month would pass in the blink
of an eye.

“It seems like…… he has not prepared anything.”

If Kinanah had not appeared, he might have taken some action this
week.

But considering that he had not passed the full-time employee exam,
he might not be in the mood to do this kind of thing.

Thinking about this, it seemed that someone had given him very
expensive chocolate during the exam period, did he keep in contact
wit that person?

“Haah, Chiho-chan and Suzuno understand the situation very well, so

they probably would not mind it, but I hope he can at least do
something for Alas=Ramus.”

While waiting for the traffic light to turn green, Emi looked towards
her left subconsciously.

Almost one year had passed since that unbelievable ‘reunion’.

“Haah, Acies would definitely be very nosiy. It would be better to

remind him after all.”
At that time, she had taken a knife and thrusted it towards Maou
while filled with killing intent, but in the end, not only was she living
in the same city and working at the same store, she even started to
worry about his future job and how he was going to commemorate
White Day. If she told her past self this, how would she react?

“……This----”

When the light turned green, Emi pressed the dial button to call
Suzuno, and started walking while smiling slightly.

“is just like being an actual married couple.”

Slightly more than ten minutes later, Emi breathed a sigh of relief
when she saw that Villa Rosa Sasazuka was still standing.

Depending on Kinanah’s actions and the trouble he caused, it would

not be strange even if the whole apartment was damaged.

After climbing up the stairs, there were no signs of a commotion

occurring.

Emi first knocked lightly on the door of Room 202----

“Is it Emilia? Alas=Ramus and Kinanah are already asleep, please be

quieter.”

Suzuno’s voice was heard from within and the door opened with a
click.

“Eh? Chiho-chan and Acies are here?”

“Good evening, Yusa-san! I will be staying here tonight as well.”

“Hi, Emi, thanks for taking the time.”

Unexpectedly, Chiho was currently inside the room, wearing an

apron, and the room was currently filled with a sweet smell.
There was even a mountain of biscuits on a plate and Acies was
currently stealing biscuits from the plate at an alarming speed to eat
them.

They were probably changing their strategy and switching to feeding

Kinanah sweet food instead.

Alas=Ramus was currently sleeping quietly in the futon in the corner

of the room, Emi took off her jacket and sat next to the pillow, then
discovered that a large amount of chocolate, chocolate rice and
other dessert ingredients were placed in the kitchen.

“You’re still making desserts at such a late time?”

“Yeah, I’m just trying it out.”

“I’m responsible for taste-testing.”

This was obvious even without asking.

“These were just made, if you don’t mind, do you want to try it?”

Emi accept one normal circular biscuit, the faint buttercream smell
was a very dangerous temptation at night.

“It’s delicious, but why are you making biscuits suddenly? Are they
for Kinanah?”

It would be strange if these were specially made for Acies to eat.

The most probable answer was that these would be used to feed
Kinanah, but the answer Chiho gave exceeded Emi’s imagination
completely.

“Because it’s White Day soon.”

“Eh?”
“Since we started it, we can’t just stand by when faced with this
current situation, right?”

Suzuno ate the failed end-products, which were either misshapened

or burnt, and said this.

“I already told the demons that there will be return gifts on White
Day. Since we caused them to expect such a thing, if they did not
receive any giftsin the end, everyone will definitely feel very
disappointed, so we thought of preparing gifts for the demons.”

“Ah, I see……”

Emi watched the extremely busy Chiho in a stunned manner.

“These are just for the demons of course. I will definitely have that
guy prepare expensive and delicious desserts for me, Chiho,

Suzuno and Nee-sama! If he misses White Day, he will have to

increase 1000 yen for each day he’s late!”

It was unbelievable that such a terrible loanshark existed.

“By the way, that guy seemed to have received chocolate when he
was attending the training, I wonder if he returned the favour
already.”

Suzuno watched the late night news and said nonchalantly----

“That has nothing to do with us.”

Without turning around, Chiho bluntly brushed Suzuno’s words

aside.

“Oh yeah, Emilia. Since we made these in front of Alas=Ramus, we

can’t avoid not giving her anything in those circumstances, so I gave
her a small piece of biscuit after dinner. I hope you understand.”

170
“……Yeah, I understand.”

Chiho, Suzuno and Acies had already surpassed the worrying stage,
and took action to help Maou who had no energy to deal with White
Day.

Especially Chiho, she only made chocolate on Valentine’s Day to

strength the relationship with Maou and the demons.

And once again, for Maou’s sake, she was helping him to make
biscuits for White Day.

Upon closer inspection, paper bags from the 100 yen store were
placed in the corner of the room, and from the bag opening,
materials used for packaging could be seen within.

In comparison, once Emi remembered the line she said

subconsciously on the way here, she felt really embarrassed.

“Ugh~~”

“Yusa-san?”

“Emilia, what’s wrong?”

“Are you hungry? How about eating some more?”

Seeing Emi lower her head and cover her face with both hands, the
three of them showed confused expressions.
※
Not long after Emi left, Kisaki returned to the store.

“Tch, it dragged on for longer than expected. I’m sorry, I came back
later than expected. The people who end their work at 10pm have
left already huh. How’s the situation for today?”

“It’s morstly the same as usual, and no problems happened.”

“I see, that’s good then.”

After Kisaki said this, she looked at the clock.

“Maa-kun, I actually received a message from Kouta today.”

“Eh? From Kouta?”

This unexpected name surprised Maou.

Then Kisaki, despite knowing how Maou, with his current situation,
would interpret the following news, she still spoke,

“He seemed to have received an acceptance notice.”

“Seriously! Isn’t that too fast? He’s still considered a third year
university student, right?”

“Yeah. It’s still early, but it’s not impossible. And before he quit this
part time job, he was already participating in internships and non-
publicised selections. Either way, he had already obtained a job, but
the company he wants to join the most has not ended its
recruitment drive, so he still needs to continue job hunting.”

“I see.”

“Yeah.”

“But it’s good news.”

Kisaki, feeling rather surprised, raised an eyebrow.

“After quitting their job, most people would not remain in contact
anymore, right? Thefore, being able to hear good news from him
makes me feel a little happy.”

“…… I see. By the way, Maa-kun.”

“Yes?”
“Are you free later? I wish to invite you for dinner.”

“Ah…… today should be fine…… can I contact those at home first?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. This might be a little annoying, but even if you’re not
free today, I will still find another opportunity to chat with you. So I
will still invite you later.”

“Eh? Ah, alright…… I understand.”

It was rare to see Kisaki acting this persistent.

But either way, after Maou got off work, he needed to send
messages to Suzuno and Emi and ask if he could return home at a
later time.

“…… What am I doing. Haah…… it’s because of that damn lizard.”

Even so, this sounded like he was asking his wife at home if he could
go out to drink with colleagues.

After getting off work, Maou first changed his clothes in the
Employee Room, then sent messages to tell the two of them that

Kisaki had asked him out for a meal.

『It’s fine, don’t come back too late.』

『I understand, it’s good to relax once in a while.』

The replies from the two of them, were so understanding that it

was bone-chiling.

And for some unknown reason, Chiho also sent a message over.

『 There’s no need to worry about things over here! Camio-san is

very energetic today, he even walked around the room for a while.
』
The message even included a picture of Camio posing with his wings
outstretched in front of the box which Kinanah was sleeping in.

Since this kind of message was sent at this time, it meant that Chiho
was also staying at Suzuno’s room.

Since Emi and Suzuno were around, there should not be any
problems, but there would always be an exception.

“I should try my best to return home earlier.”

He might have said this, but Maou did not know why Kisaki asked
him out for a meal, and this made him strangely nervous.

The two of them had just finished talking about Nakayama Koutarou
receiving an acceptance notice during his job hunt, so based on this,
the reason probably had nothing to do with Maou’s full-timer
promotion training.

In addition, Kisaki was not so free as to repeatedly talk about

something which could not be changed.

“……Hm? It seems to be a bit bright outside?”

In the end, at closing time, Maou still had no idea, and when he
walked outside and prepared to close the shop.

“Eh?”

A Jizo Buddha was standing at the store’s entrance.

No, completely different from the spirit state he was in since a few
days ago, it was Sariel, whose gaze looked like he had been purified.

Maou had thought that it looked rather bright outside because Sariel
was glowing.
He had only been emitting a strange atmosphere before, but he was
really glowing now, causing Maou to frantically knock him on the
head.

“What are you doing! Hot! Is this holy magic? Hey, you’re glowing!
You’re standing out too much!”

“…… Aah, Maou-kun.”

However, with a purified gaze and a purified expression, Sariel

looked up and glanced at Maou.

“Yeah, that’s right. I am very confused right now. But within the
confusion, I have a premonition that I will become very blessed.”

“You have been acting weird since earlier!”

If he was feeling down because he knew that Kisaki was going to be

transferred, Maou could still understand this.

However, for unknown reasons, Sariel was standing at the store’s

entrance, looking just like a purified saint.

Rather than saying he was an eyesore, it was more like no matter

what this guy did, he would always cause trouble for others.

“Maa-kun, what’s wong?”

“Eh? Ah, no, erhm.”

Just like before, Kisaki asked this from within the store.

It felt as if the glow around Sariel’s body became stronger once he

heard Kisaki’s voice.
176
“Did Sarue come?”

“Eh? Y, yes, erhm.”

“Oh, he came already huh. I asked him to come.”

“Huh?”

Because it was too unexpected, Maou could not help but shout from
where he was at the shop entrance.

“Eh? Kisaki-san? Eh? Asked him to come, ehhh?”

“I’m sorry for not telling you earlier, but Sarue will be eating dinner
with us later. Ask him to wait outside for a while.”

It was unexpected, but it was understandable why Sariel had become

a saint now.

When Kisaki allowed Sariel to continue entering the store in front of

Hatagaya station, he was also purified until it looked like he was
going to float in the air.

And this time, Kisaki actually invited him for dinner, to Sariel, it was
as if Paradise had descended in front of him.

“Maou-kun.”

“Huh……?

“What…….should I do, and what should I say?”

“…… How would I know. Aren’t you normally really unscrupulous

when you talk? Why are you so scared when it’s only a meal right
now?”

“Is it because I’m not mentally prepared for this, at such an

important juncture, my mind is completely blank.”

177
Even for an angel who had lived for a few thousand years, once he
had been invited by someone he liked, he would still be so nervous
that he no longer knew what to say.

Maou left Sariel who was still glowing and currently looking at his
watch nervously to re-enter the store.

“I’m the one who doesn’t know what will happen next.”

Maou already did not know why Kisaki would invite him for dinner,
and now Sariel was joining in.

“Thanks for waiting, let’s go.”

“Al, alright!”

After Kisaki and Maou finished closing the store and walked outside,
they found that Sariel was still waiting outside, standing in the same
position and the same posture.

However, it seems like he had successfully stopped himself from

glowing.

“Just like what I said before, Maou from my store will be joining as
well. I’m sorry, but can I take up some of your time?”

“I, I’ll be happy to do so!”

“……”

He did not know what happened, but since he had already accepted
Kisaki’s invite, Maou could only eat a meal with Sariel.

Then no matter what was talked about later, Maou still had to treat
Sariel as ‘Manager Sarue’ and show a respectful attitude on the
surface.
Even if he did not feel motivated about it, Maou still walked through
the entrance of the same Izakaya as before without incident.

“I’m sorry for inviting you out at such a late time.”

“It, it’s totally fine!”

Was this guy really the same person who would normally
passionately recite the love poems he wrote himself?

Sariel, who was sitting opposite Kisaki, froze from nervousness. It

was as if one knock from a metal hammer would cause him to
shatter into pieces.

“Shop Manager Sarue? Are you alright? Do you want to order some
drinks first……”

Maou did not know what expression he should have on his face
when he was facing Sariel, so he could only pass Sariel the drinks
menu first.

“I, I’ll get a draft beer first!”

Sariel decided without even looking at the menu.

Maou thought uneasily, was it really alright to drink alcohol in this

kind of state?

“Yeah, that’s true. Let me drink some alcohol too. It’s been a while
since I drank barley shōchū.”

Then, as if she was going along with Sariel’s decision, she started to
browse the shōchū menu.

With this, Maou was hesitant of being the only one to drink
Oolong tea----

“Then I’ll order Oolong……High.”

So he decided that he should at least drink one glass with them.

After he ordered his drink, Maou realised that since he came to

Japan, this was the second time he was drinking alcohol.

The first time was during the welcoming party everyone organised
for him not long after he was hired by MgRonalds.

Kisaki had been present at that time.

Maou did not really remember what his first taste of alcohol from a
foreign world was like.

Kisaki ordered some dishes to go with the alcohol and the drinks for
the three of them, and because it was already very late, the drinks
were sent over quickly.

Sariel ordered draft beer, Maou ordered Oolong High and Kisaki
ordered barley shōchū.

“Either way, thank you for your hard work. My sincere thanks to the
two of you for today.”

The three of them made a toast with Kisaki’s prompt, and even at
this time, Sariel held the beer glass with both hands and only held
out the glass in a shaky manner.

Maou drank one mouthful of the Oolong High, and the ice cold
yet fiery taste pricked his throat.

Once Kisaki saw Maou drinking alcohol, she rested her cheek on her
hand and smiled,

“Honestly speaking, I was hoping that the two of you could drink
with me today. Because I want to treat the following conversation as
a light-hearted talk at a drinking party. Thank you for accepting my
sudden invitation.”

180
“Oh…..”

“It, it’s an honour!”

Kisaki ate the edamame which was an adequate appetizer, drank a

small mouthful of the shōchū and said,

“It’s late, so I’ll go straight to the main topic. As the two of you know,
I’m going to be transferred in the next financial year. The store in
front of Hatagaya Station will be taken over by the new Shop
Manager. It’s obvious for Maa-kun to do so, but I hope

Shop Manager Sarue can get along with the new Shop Manager……”

“O, of course!”

He had been acting like a spirit who was buried deep in despair some
time back, but Sariel was now in his best condition, nodding
enthusiastically.

“However, let’s put aside work matters for today. I asked the two of
you out today because I have a request for you.”

“Eh?”

“A request……hey, you’re gripping onto it too tightly, the glass is

going to break.”

Once he heard Kisaki say the term ‘request’, Sariel’s hands tightened
subconsciously, and because his physical strength was significant to
begin with, the beer glass started to scream.

“I’m 27 years old this year.”

“I know that.”

“Eh……ah, that’s expected.”

Sariel responded too quickly, causing Maou to suspect with he used
some kind of illegal methods to check this, but he immediately
remembered that Sariel’s superior was Kisaki’s same age childhood
friend.

“Then the department I’m going to be transferred to is more internal

orientated, I plan to work there for three years and resign.”

““Eh?””

Maou and Sariel exclaimed at the same time.

Kisaki was 27 years old this year, so even if she worked three more
years, she would only be 30 years old.

For a working adult, it should be a period when they start to develop.

Thinking to this point, Maou had a realisation.

“You’re going to start up your own business?”

Kisaki nodded and acknowledged it.

Kisaki’s dream was to open her own bar, and even if she was
only preparing for it little by little, Maou and Sariel knew that she
had been working towards that target.

However, when they heard her declaring her determination like this,
they still could not help but be surprised by it.

Especially since Kisaki’s transfer this time was honestly considered a

glorious promotion.

With Kisaki’s ability, it would not be an issue even if she wanted to

continue staying at MgRonalds and climb upwards.

But she just said that she wanted to abandon this stable path.

The next question was, why did she tell the two of them about this?
“Simply put, this is head-hunting.”

After Kisaki drank a large mouthful of shōchū, she said,

“Maa-kun, Sarue. I want to hire the two of you three years later.”

His cheeks, which felt hot because he was not used to drinking,
caused Maou to feel that the night wind was very comfortable.

He was currently pushing Dullahan II and walking home.

The shocking declaration just now caused Maou to lose his ability to
think, and even now, he had not sorted out his feelings, and the
night streets were so quiet, it was as if they were protecting him
who was currently in this state.

The outer appearance of Villa Rosa Sasazuka looked very tranquil.

The lights in Room 201 and Room 202 were turned off, and no
strange sounds were heard from within.

To avoid waking up the people were already asleep, Maou quietly

returned to the room.

『Oh, Satan, you’re

back.』“Ugoh!”

However, Kinanah’s voice was suddenly heard in the dark room, and
once Maou saw the lizard eyes glowing in the dark, his heart rate
which was already increased because of the alcohol only increased
further.

“(What is it, so you’re still awake……eh, why are you outside?)”

『Outside? What are you talking about? This isn’t outside.』

Kinanah was positioned in the middle of the room.

Upon closer examination, the cardboard box which was enveloped in
holy magic had been torn apart.

Then even if he might get eaten if he was not careful, Camio was still
snoring leisurely nearby, causing Maou to feel a little angry.

『I have been staying in this cave the whole time. So as not to break
my agreement with you.』

“(Cave, is this place that bad….........cave?)”

Maou was initially angry at Kinanah’s rude words, but immediately

discovered that the situation was a little strange.

『To keep the promise, I have stayed here this whole time. The next
time I leave this place, it should be when the world is in turmoil once
more.』

“(Here……which place are you referring to when you say 『here』?)”

『Satan, have you forgotten? At that time, you were even crying
while apologising to me.』

“(S, sorry…… I have too many matters to handle.)”

He had to go along with the topic.

『Hmph, forget it. Don’t worry, I have already chased away the
Legion who came to this cave earlier.』

“(T, thank you for the hard work.)”

『But the Legion could actually find the cave I am staying in, could it
be that Kaminijah has died?』

“(Uh, erhm, his child……)”

Maou was a bit resistant to use ‘someone else’s child’ to describe his
family member who had raised him, but this sentence had an
unexpected effect.

『What! A child! He has a child, that is great! He has to be careful to

avoid detection by the Legion and raise him well! But he should not
neglect maintaining the Nothung. I want to go and congratulate
him, but I cannot leave this place. Help me pass a message to
Kaminjah, I am truly happy for him. 』

“(I understand. He should be very happy about it.)”

To avoid agitating Kinanah, Maou walked into the room softly and
slowly sat in front of Kinanah without turning on the lights.

“(By the way Kinanah, how is the condition of the Astral Gem right
now?”

It seemed like after so many days, Kinanah finally remembered some

memories which were related to the Astral Gem.

Without harbouring any expectations, Maou tried to dig out more

information----

『Hm? I would always stay inside when something happens, so

I don’t know. Weren’t you the one who designed the cave in
this way?』

“(Oh, I see. That’s true.)”

Designed the cave in this way, what was that supposed to mean?

Inside referred to the inside of what?

『Are you tired? You won’t be able to win those Legion like this,
you know. You said such grand things and became our leader, you
can’t display this kind of weakness. 』
“(…… Sorry. Too many things happened at once, I can’t really handle
all of it on my own.)”

『I see, that’s why you came to find me. I said this before.
Kaminijah is too young. It’s exactly what I said. 』

Kinanah said in a satisfied tone, then he suddenly blinked and

surveyed his surroundings.

『Why is it so dark? 』

“(Hm? Because it’s night right now……)”

『Night? That’s impossible. There should be stars in the sky at night.

』
“(Eh?)”

『There should be glittering blue stars in the sky. Even in the cave, I
could see the clear glow from those beautiful stars. 』

“(……I see.)”

Kinanah should be referring to the sky of the Demon World.

However, ever since Maou was born, he had never seen stars in the
sky of the Demon World.

Whether it was day or night, the sky of the Demon World was red in
colour, and he could only see the thick cloud layer rolling and
twisting with the strong winds.

Besides, just what were these blue stars?

『Did the Legion do something again? 』

“(No, I walked here, but there was nothing outside, it’s very
peaceful.)”
『I see. By the way, Satan, what happened to Kaminijah? 』

“(……Ah.)”

『I have not seen him recently. He has to, pass me his Nothung for
polishing…… 』

“(Don’t worry. Kaminijah is currently busy taking care of his child.)”

『What! He has a child! He continued his bloodline?! 』

“(Yeah. I visit him occasionally. The Legion had not appeared at all at
this time, so he’s focusing on taking care of his child.)”

『I see! But he can’t slack off in the maintenance of the sword! Ask
him to find me when he has time…… 』

Because the topic was starting go around in circles, Maou could only
try his best to play along with Kinanah’s rambles, and when

Kinanah was tired and went to sleep, the sky was beginning to
lighten.

Maou looked down at Kinanah who was snoring and fast asleep and
started slowly preparing for bed.

The tatami had not been repaired and to prevent tearing the new
futon, he unfolded another large cardboard box to place below it.

Just as Maou let out a huge yawn and even felt lazy to put down the
cardboard box layer, someone knocked the porch door

lightly.

“Huh? Emi? You……”

Once Maou opened the door, he saw Emi, who still looked a little
sleepy.
“Seems like it ended. Both of you were talking the whole time,
right?”

“Yeah, sorry. Did we disturb you?”

“No. I’m sorry, but I slept very well. It’s just that I kept hearing some
faint sounds of people talking, which suddenly stopped just now, so I
came over to check on the situation.”

“ I see…… he just feel asleep. I came back after attending a drinking

session, so honestly, I’m a little tired.”

“Is that so? You returned really late?”

“No, I came back around 1 plus a.m……”

Maou looked at his watch as he replied.

It was almost 5 a.m.

“I’ll watch him. You should sleep for a while.”

“…… Sorry, then let’s go with that arrangement.”

Maou nodded and let Emi into the room, and the latter noticed
Kinanah sleeping in the middle of the room.

“Hey! Why did you let him out?”

“I didn’t do it. By the way, do you have any way to restrict his
movements?”

“It’s not like I can’t do it……but it would be bad if I wake him up doing
it, it would be better to deal with it after he wakes up.”

“Oh, I’ll be counting on you then.”

Maou started to prepare the futon.

At the same time, he threw a flattened small cardboard box towards
Emi.

“My house doesn’t have anything as high class as a padded cushion,

so make do and sit on this. If you accidentally tear your clothes, I
don’t have money to compensate you.”

“You should ask Landlady-san to repair this place as soon as

possible.”

“Once I think that he might bite on things again, I can’t get motivated
at all. I’ll think about it when everything is over.”

Not only was Maou not facing Emi, even his reply was rather
negative.

“What did you and Kisaki-san talk about?”

Once Emi came, Maou let down his guard completely.

Maou’s reaction caused Emi to have some mixed feelings, but she
was still very curious why Kisaki invited Maou out for dinner twice in
such a short time period.

“……Ah.”

Maou paused and answered with something completely unrelated.

“Chi-chan and Suzuno should have made some meat dishes and put
them in the fridge. If the stupid lizard is hungry after waking up, let
him eat that.”

“Alright alright, good night.”

He was probably too lazy to reply because he was too tired.

Emi decided to ask again after Maou woke up. She sat quietly on the
flattened cardboard box and prepared to take out her mobile phone
to pass the time.

As for Maou, he did not even change his clothes and crawled into the
futon in front of Emi.

Maou, Kinanah and Camio.

Emi was watching over three demons from the Demon World who
were asleep from exhaustion and realised that she was really out of
place here.

Though Emi laughed when she thought of this, Maou suddenly spoke
while turned away from her,

“We talking about our origins.”

“……Eh?”

It took some time for Emi to realise that Maou was answering her
question from earlier.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The term ‘origin’ seem to encapsulate some important significance,

but when Emi wanted to ask more about it----

“Fu………… fu...........”

The sounds which were heard next were definitely snores.

“Hey?”

Emi tried to call out, but Maou did not react at all.

Upon careful examination, he was already asleep with a trouble

expression on his face.

190
Emi was stunned for a while---

“…… You’ve worked hard.”

But she just said this simple sentence in the end and backed up into
the kitchen to lean on the cabinets.

Then----

“Ugh…… Emilia……chirp.”

As if he was taking over Maou, Camio woke up.

“Ah, good morning. I just took over the Demon King to watch that
lizard. He seemed to have escaped his cardboard box last night, so
please be softer. When he wakes up, I’m going to tie him up again.”

“What, that is too embarrassing. Haah, it feels like I have not been
able to contribute much since I came to Japan chirp.”

Even if she knew that Camio’s true identity was that of a powerful
demon in the Demon World, a black chicken looking perplexed was
strangely cute, causing Emi to smile subconsciously.

“How are your injuries?”

“I wish to stay that I’m fully healed, but it’s hard to determine before
I recover demonic magic chirp. With Kinanah around, it’s difficult to
replenish demonic magic.”

“I see. But fortunately, your health is still quite good.”

Not only did she feel relieved about a demon being unharmed, she
even said it out loud.

During this quiet morning, Emi stared at the back of the soundly
sleeping Demon King with a calm state of mind.

“Hey, Camio. Do you know the origins of the Demon King?”

“Chirp? Origins?”

“He said this before he went to sleep. After work yesterday, he

seemed to have eaten dinner with his superior and talking about
their origins in life at that time.”

“Hm, origins huh chirp. What is that peep. I’m not that sure either
chirp. One of the main reasons Demon King-sama wants to unify the
Demon World probably has something to do with his Black Goat clan
dying out, but it’s definitely not the only reason peep.”

“Black Goat clan?”

“That is the name of the clan Demon King-sama was born in chirp.”

“Black Goat clan…… just like the Malebranche clan, it’s the name of a
clan or species?”

“That’s right. The Northern General Adramelech-sama was from the

Ashen Horn clan; the Eastern General Alsiel-dono is from the Iron
Scorpion clan; my clan is the Pahalo Denino clan chirp.”

“I seemed to have heard of the Ashen Horn clan before. Then how
about Lucifer?”

“For Lucifer’s situation, we term them as Vagrant Demons. Not just

Lucifer, if the other clan members have all died out because of
certain reasons, or a sudden change occurs, as long as the numbers
in that clan are extremely small, they would be known as Vagrant
Demons. Based on this definition, Demon King-sama might in fact be
considered a Vagrant Demon chirp.”

“Vagrant Demon……”

Having no other members from the same clan, or existing in very

small numbers.
The Black Goat clan had died out.

“Why did the Demon King, become the Demon King……”

Ever since Emi knew about the existence of the Demon King, he was
already a demon known as Satan, but this was the first time she
heard about the past of this demon.

The sun hung high in the sky, and when the clock showed that it was
just past 11 a.m., Maou stretched and opened his eyes.

When he woke up, Emi was no longer in the room, and Suzuno had
brought over a box she had found somewhere, and Kinanah was
sealed in a wooden box which was much sturdier than the cardboard
box Camio was staying in.

“Hey, Suzuno, did you nail that box directly onto the wall?”

“I, I also thought that it was a bad idea, so I tried to stop her
chirp……”

Camio said this guiltily, but Suzuno replied with a satisfied

expression,

“This place is in tatters anyway, adding one or two more nail indents
wouldn’t make that much of a difference. Wouldn’t it have been
good to do this from the start? By using a wooden box, there will be
no need to force ourselves to use restraining magic and we can use
sealing spells on physical objects instead. After it has been secured,
you would only feel that it’s a little noisy if he moves around a lot.
You’ll be able to sleep better at night like this, right?”

“That……does make sense……by the way, where’s Emi?”

“She had been keeping watch since morning and did not sleep well
last night, so I had her go to my room to nap. I heard from
Chiho-dono that you’re working in the afternoon, right? If you want
to eat something, I can help you prepare something immediately.”

“…… Yeah, if there is something on hand, then I’ll take you up on

your offer. Damn it, it’s been a long time since I drank alcohol, my
throat feels so dry.”

“You actually drink alcohol, that’s rare.”

“With that kind of setting, it would be hard to tolerate if I don’t drink

alcohol.”

Maou filled up a cup of water directly from the tap and finished it in
one go.

“Haah…… I only drank two glasses. My body feels a little heavy. Is

this a hangover?”

“You’re just not used to drinking alcohol. Hold out your left hand.”

“Hm……ohh?”

Using a finger, Suzuno pressed on the palm Maou casually held out
with some force.

There was a shockwave, then a refeshing feeling circulated within

Maou’s body, instantly dissipating the fatigue caused by alcohol.

“Oh, that’s amazing. What is this move?”

“This spell adjusts the amount of water circulating within the body,
diluting the alcohol. It would be useless if the person drank too
much, but because it’s a rather simple spell, it would not cause a
burden on the bodies of demons.”

“Yeah, it feels so much better, but when will there be an opportunity

to use such an obscure spell?”
“Amongst the clerics, there are people who can’t drink alcohol or
aren’t good at holding their alcohol, but in sacred rituals or
ceremonies, it’s not like they can pretend to drink the holy wine.”

This usage which was more practical than he imagined caused Maou
to widen his eyes in surprise.

“I see, it’s an industry requirement huh.”

“Industry…… it feels like the clerics’ situation is a little different.”

“Even if some things seem meaningless when viewed objectively,

only those within the industry would know about it huh. So it’s like
that.”

Maou’s reaction did not seem like it was simply because he had been
freed from hangover, causing Suzuno to show a rather perplexed
expression.

“By the way, I came home later than usual because of private
matters, I’m really sorry about that.”

“It’s alright. Emilia and Chiho-dono were around, and Shop Manager
Kisaki is going to get transferred soon, it would also be difficult for
you to reject her invitation, right?”

“Thank you for your understanding. Thanks to that, I can now see a
glimpse of future prospects.”

“Future prospects?”

Suzuno felt that it had been a while since she had seen Maou’s
current lively gaze.

“Are you in a rush to return to Ente Isla today?”

“What’s wrong? I’m not in a rush to go back, is something the

matter?”
“Then today…… no tomorrow morning then, I have something to tell
you, Emi and Chi-chan. It would be better tonight, but I can’t have
Chi-chan stay over for two nights in a row.”

“I understand, I just have to pass on this message to the two of

them?”

“Yeah. If possible, I hope you can get Ashiya, Urushihara, Lailah and
Acies to come too.”

“You plan to say something important?”

“Personally, I do not feel that it’s a big issue, but if I make decisions
on my own, all of you would probably get angry, so I want to discuss
with all of you first……ughhh, ah~ I’m so tired.”

Maou stretched and yawned, but his figure was filed with
dominance.

Suzuno looked at Maou’s back which was being shone on by the sun-
--

“Haah, it’s good that you have cheered up.”

After Suzuno judged that it was useless to interrogate him before

everyone gathered, Suzuno went to prepare breakfast immediately.

“Maou-san. Sentucky Fried Chicken…… is the store glowing?”

Chiho, who reported to work after school in the evening, asked

Maou jitterly in a volume which was unheard by the other
employees.

“Yeah, when I came to work, it was already glowing.”

“S, so early…… can other people see it?”

“Who knows. If they focus, they can probably see it.”

“Eh, is that alright?”

“It’s not that good, but it can still be brushed off as an illusion.
Fortunately, the city area is lit up everywhere at night.”

“What happened to Sariel-san……”

If some supernatural phenomenon occurred at Sentucky Fried

Chicken, there was a large chance that it was related to Sariel.

And Chiho’s guess was correct.

“DIdn’t Kisaki-san invite me out for a meal yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

“Sariel was there too.”

“Eh?”

“And Kisaki-san invited him.”

“Ehhh?”

If he was not involved in the situation and had heard this news,
Maou would probably react in the same way.

“Wha, wha, wha, wha, Sariel-san finally used spells to control Kisaki-
san?”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing like that. It’s natural for you to think this
way, but it’s not like that.”

Maou frantically assured Chiho.

Before Kisaki delved into the main topic, even Maou who was
present at that time could not understand why Kisaki
specially invited Sariel for dinner together.

Sariel himself definitely did not understand it too.

Even after Kisaki said ‘I want to hire the two of you’, Maou had been
unable to immediately comprehend the meaning of this sentence.
※
“Maa-kun, Sarue. I want to hire the two of you three years later.”

Maou’s and Sariel’s eyes both widened and they froze.

“Hire us……”

“What does that mean……”

“I meant it literally. The two of you know my dream, right?”

“Yeah, it’s to open a bar……”

“I think highly of your abilities, in order to run that store, I hope the
two of you can lend me your capabilities. The salaries and benefits
have to be discussed further, but I hope that the two of you can join
my company as employees as early as possible.”

“I’m joining!”

Once Sariel realised that Kisaki was serious about it, he replied as
quickly as a venus flytrap which had detected an insect on one of its
hairs, then was hit on the head by Maou.

“What are you doing!”

“Use your brain…… Shop Manager Sarue, please decide after thinking
over it properly.”

“There’s no need to think about it, right? What’s there to hesitate

about!”

“That’s just Shop Manager Sarue’s personal wish. However, Shop

Manager Sarue is different from me, you’re a permanent employee
of Sentucky. Can you change jobs that easily?”
“If there is no better answer, then thinking more about it would just
be a waste of time. The thing about resolutions is that they are made
in an instant!”

“That’s not what I meant! Kisaki-san, what’s wrong with you, hiring
Shop Manager Sarue is just a waste of money, right?”

As if he was having a headache, Maou pressed his hand against his

forehead.

“This is just an opinion in hindsight, but regardless of everything,

Sarue is a trustworthy person.”

“Which part of him is trustworthy?”

Maou could not help but protest with a rude tone, and Kisaki
answered with a wry smile,

“Sarue will definitely not betray me, right?”

“Of course!”

“Uh, erhm, that might be true……”

“His words and actions might be weird, but in principle, he’s a

gentleman towards ladies.”

“I’m flattered!”

“It feels that my definition and Kisaki-san’s definition of

『gentleman』 is a little different.”

“Recently I finally understood that in a positive way, Sarue is a

gentleman, but in a negative way, he’s awkward.”

“It’s an honour!”

“You’re really alright with everything, you know, be quiet! W, what’s

that supposed to mean?”
Maou finally could not help but speak rudely, showing his usual
attitude towards Sariel, but Kisaki did not mind it at all and
responded calmly,

“He’s this infatuated with me and is that noisy every day, but he has
not done anything to me, right?”

“Done anything……uh, t, that might be true.”

“And from the start, he has drawn a clear line between personal and
work matters. Most importantly, the business at Sentucky

Hatagaya store is quite good.”

“Is that so……?”

Maou remembered Kawada mentioned that Sariel had tried to apply

for a position as MgRonalds once.

“And I realised that I can easily manage Sarue’s various actions. It’s
not that easy to encounter a person who is that infatuated with me,
does his work honestly and is easy to control.”

“I never thought that you would put me in such high regards……ah!

Am I dreaming?”

“Did you not realise that you’re just being treated like a tool?”

To be spoken of in that way, even Maou was beginning to pity Sarue,

but since he looked very happy about it, it was difficult for him to say
anything else.

“Haah, whether I can accept it or not, it’s fine as long as Kisaki-san is

alright with it…… but Shop Manager Sarue should ask for more
details, right? For example, why hire us, or things related to benefits
and so on.”

200
Once Maou mentioned ‘benefits’, Kisaki smiled as if Maou had said
what she was hoping for. As for Sariel, he shook his head in surprise,

“Benefits?! Shop Manager Kisaki said that she needs me, you know?!
Is there a better benefit than that!!”

“There’s something wrong with your sentence. And Sarue, Maa-kun

is right this time. My suggestion might cause your income to
decrease greatly, so please listen to my explanation. These are the
basics of labor-management negotiation.”

Kisaki spoke to calm the agitated Sariel down.

“There are two main reasons. Firstly, my dream is to own my own

bar, but after opening the shop, it needs to continue operating. If I’m
running the business by myself, it would probably close in less than
three years. I can’t handle everything by myself, and I need people
who can take my place at any time. That’s one of the reasons.”

“Hm, I see.”

“The other reason is I don’t wish to spend too much time and money
on choosing the initial staff. Just like what I said just now,

I definitely cannot manage a store on my own, but even if I recruit

employees, I might not get any applications immediately, and even if
someone did apply, I honestly do not have any time to train them.
Based on this, if it’s the two of you, not only can

I pay you happily, I can entrust the store to the two of you.”

“Wait a moment, Kisaki-san! Trust? I can still understand if you say

he’s easy to handle or easy to make use of, but which part of this guy
is worth trusting?”

“I said this just now, he is truly infatuated with me.”

“Yes! I will not lose to anyone in this aspect!”

“Huh?”

Kisaki, who brought up this ridiculous logic, seemed completely

different from normal.

“Haah, I was only half-serious about that”

“I was serious the whole time!”

“You’re noisy! Eh, it’s too much even if it’s a joke, what is that
supposed to mean?”

“Before I explain, Maa-kun, I want to ask you a question first, a

bar…… let’s simplify it and say it’s like a café, what do you think a
café needs the most?”

“Eh? Of, of course it’s……”

Maou thought about it for a while, then realised that the scale of this
question was simply too large.

“F, firstly it would be to develop the drinks and food menu. Then
establish the production process, calculate the costs and decide the
suppliers, prepare the cutlery, and since a store needs to be opened,
the store location will have to be decided, and prepare the tables
and chairs……”

Maou paused at this point.

“Ah, that’s right, a cleaner should be hired. And when the store is
opened, there’s still a need to keep track of the sales of each item,
compare the items which sell well to those that don’t, and improve
the menu…… uh, then……”
Maou tried to list out the items he would normally think of when
he worked at MgRonalds, but he was unable to come up with
anymore answers.

Then, sitting beside him, Sariel looked so proud of himself that his
nostrils flared.

“Hmph, you’re too superficial, too superficial, Maou-kun?!”

“Huh?”

“You only mentioned the superficial aspects of running a store.”

“Superficial?”

“Maou-kun, if the insides are lacking, it would be impossible to run a

store. Simply put, it’s about money.”

With an aggravating expression, Sariel bent his thumb and index

finger to show a money symbol.

“When you were thinking about what kind of store to create, you
were considering it from the viewpoint of the customers. This is
wrong. The first thing is do when starting a business is to calmly
analyse the cards you own.”

As if he was talking to a badly performing student, Sariel started to

talk extensively.

“The payable loans and collateral from financial institutions. The

proportion of your capital when you open a business. Your
repayment plan. How much operational capital is needed at the
start. Cash flow. Sales targets. There are still many details, but
before opening a new store, you first need to carefully calculate
these items. If you do not record these numbers in a business plan
book, forget about borrowing money, the banks would not even
entertain your request. When you are able to actually
borrow money and truly confirmed your budget, then you can start
thinking about things related to the store front. Haah, this would
normally happen in parallel during the preparation process though.”

Maou had learned about these things when he was taking part in the
full-timer promotion training.

Why did these things not come to mind just now?

And why did Sariel know these things so well?

“Receivable accounts, payable accounts, sundry expenses, salaries

and taxes, all of these needs to be managed through the account
books, other than regularly communicating with the financial
institutions, hiring and training the employees would be one of the
tasks as well. And currently, the cafés far away from the city center
either have strong local ties or are opened by estate owners who
open them on their own land because of personal interest. These are
not facilities which are an absolute necessity in human lives.”

“I’m frustrated, but Saure is correct. The bar operational model is not
common in Japan.”

“As for franchise stores which are inviting, offer low prices and are
comfortable, there’s no need to talk about how powerful they are in
this modern age, right? To give up being a salaryperson and
challenge the current situation, you first have to understand that
these large businesses and pioneers have invested a huge amount of
talen, money and time to create those stores on the street. And you
actually made a mistake on the weapons which have to be prepared
at the start, fufu, Maou-kun, it seems like you do not possess the
ability to run a store.”

To Maou, who just failed the full-timer hiring exam, this sentence
pierced deeply into his heart.
And the one who said this was Sariel, which only caused more
damage.

“If you wish to start acting on the areas the customer can see,
regardless of how high the budget is, it will never be enough. Of
course, sometimes there is a need to make an effort at the backend
for the sake of some romance on the surface, but operating a
business is a very realistic affair. If you’re just depending on dreams
and romance, it would definitely not end well. I believe that since the
start, Sarue harbours the same train of thought as me. He is a talent
that Tanaka Himeko sent over to go against me.”

Kisaki did not know how Sariel entered the company, so she praised
him greatly. This caused Sariel to be so happy that it seemed like he
was going to fly into the sky.

“Just like what Sarue said, money is not only involved when setting
up a business. In MgRonalds, every company uses the same system
to handle the daily account management and delivery of supplies,
but an independent store needs to handle everything on its own. It
costs money to hire a taxperson and accountant too. If you don’t try
your best to handle as many things as possible, the money will be
used up quickly. This is the part which could cause a business owner
to be unable to handle things alone. In this case, whether trusted
personnel are there since the beginning is like a difference between
Heaven and Earth.”

Even if Maou understood at the backend was the most important

part of the operating a food and beverage business, this was still not
directly related to why Kisaki needed Sarue and Maou.

If Kisaki wanted to handle these backend duties, she just needed to

entrust the front end jobs to one of them.

When Maou raised this question----

“The transfer this made caused me to think about it. Since I’m going
to do it, I might as well do something big. Since I was able to
accumulate industrial knowledge from a large corporation, I should
not be satisfied with becoming the owner of one shop. My dream
should not be used to only help me get by in life.”

If she could not even manage to maintain her own day to day life,
everything would be just empty talk, but if she set her target to being
able to support her lifestyle, it would not be considered an ambitious
goal.

“When the business gets on track, I might open a branch store, at

that time, the employees would increase, and as long as Sarue, who
had been a Shop Manager before and is very loyal to me, is around, I
can immediately hand the store over to him to manage.”

“I, I see.”

Maou thought that Kisaki’s dream was to open a friendly

neighbourhood store and just continue on like this, but it was not
like that at all.

『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 when the goal could not be
achieved would still be more fruitful compared to the result when
the goal is lowered.』

Had he not proudly said this to others before?

“And in a way, Maa-kun’s true value would shine at this moment.”

“What do you mean?”

“As the scale of the business grows larger, it would probably be more
difficult for me to stay at the front lines. At that time, only you can
take my place and protect my ideal 『scene』.”
“Protect Kisaki-san’s ideal scene…….ouch!”

The jealous archangel secretly stepped on Maou’s foot under the

table, causing Maou to shout out, but once he thought that he had
just hit Sariel’s head earlier, he could only tolerate it now.

“I understand the high importance you place on 『 work 』 . There

aren’t many people who can learn new skills even when they are so
busy. But you have the skills and attitude which made it possible for
you to cater to the customer’s preferences even while working with
MgRonald’s limited menu. You like working in the food and beverage
industry, right?”

“I definitely don’t dislike it, but anyone would be able to do it as long

as they put their heart into it……”

“The key is putting their heart into it first. If there are really a lot of
people who can do it, then there won’t be that many certificate
tuition classes or classes to cultivate interests in this world.”

After Kisaki said this, she looked straight at Maou.

“There are many people who take their work seriously, but truly
loving their job, and having a constant desire to improve while
working at the same time, there aren’t that many people like that.
And I think that you’re one of those rare people.”

When she said this, Kisaki did not forget to add on ‘but that does not
mean that the other employees are worse than you, okay’.

“There’s another reason why I think so highly of you, I said this

before, but amongst the people around me, as a working adult,
you’re the one who has the least restrictions on your future. So I
have harboured the selfish thought that once I ask for it, you might
be willing to follow me.”
This sentence could also be interpreted as a pickup line.

At the edge of his vision, Sariel was currently glaring at Maou with
such a scary expression that it was as if his face was going to rip
apart.

“Sarue and I have been intentionally emphasising on the severity of

money. In reality, the foundation of dreams would be money in most
situations. But I said it just now, for the sake of romance, it would be
important to make an effort in the backend.

Opening a bar in this time and age is a difficult thing, and I

harboured this dream because I have an origin which allowed me to
harbour this dream.”

“An origin, to harbour this dream……?”

“My grandfather, was the boss of a café.”

Kisaki’s grandfather used to open a café in Saitama’s Kawagoe city.

Kawagoe was a tourist area near the city area, and many people
would visit that place everyday.

In addition, her grandfather’s store had strong neighbourhood ties,

so his business probably did very well.

The reason why she was not that sure about it was because when
the café was in operation, Kisaki had been a child, so she did not
know if the café really did that well.

When she occasionally went to her grandfather’s shop to play, there

were quite a lot of customers, but her grandfather, happy that his
granddaughter came over to play, would always let Kisaki sit at the
bar, then adjust the recipe to brew a cup of coffee that even a young
child could enjoy.
“Because it was during that era, that store did not ban smoking. I saw
the old photos later, but that place was not a store with fashionable
decorations or appearances. Because the boss was my grandfather
and the server was my grandmother, the staff costs should not be
that high. In addition, the salary was given to family members, so the
amount of taxes to pay should also be lower.”

She had said that her grandfather’s store was the origin of her own
dream, but she criticised the store harshly.

“Either way, my grandfather who stood behind the bar looked really
cool. My grandmother always wore a carefully ironed white shirt and
a black tie. My grandfather would sport a thick beard which could
barely be categorised as neat and wear an old apron.

It wouldn’t be strange to find a picture of my grandfather under the

definition of café boss inside a dictionary.”

“Simply put, your admiration for our grandfather is your origin?”

“…….Actually I started admiring my grandfather after he closed the

shop.”

“Eh?”

“My grandmother passed away in my third year of middle school.

Once my grandmother passed away, my grandfather instantly lost his
liveliness. At this point, it was impossible to hire new workers, and to
make things worse, my grandfather fell down the stairs and hurt his
lumbar bone. As a result, less than half a year after my grandmother
passed away, the café closed.

However……”

Kisaki’s grandfather moved into the Kisaki home in Sasazuka after

that.
Her family was worried that her grandfather, who was confined to
bed due to injury, would age rapidly, but something unexpected
happened.

“The regular customers of the shop specially came to visit him.”

The customers who came to visit came from all walks of life, and
there were even children who were brought over by their
grandparents.

All of them said similar things, that they wanted to drink the coffee
or red tea brewed by Kisaki’s grandfather once more.

“For people to feel that it’s sad that a business closed down, to a
worker, is there anything else which can cause more happiness than
this? That was what I thought at that time. After I tried telling my
grandfather that I wanted to drink the coffee brewed by him once,
my grandfather replied that I have to wait until he had recovered
from his injuries.”

The direction the topic progressed in caused Maou to feel uneasy for
an instant, but even if it took a long time, Kisaki’s grandfather
seemed to have recovered his health because of everyone’s care and
brewed a cup of coffee for Kisaki.

“My grandfather only used the ingredients in my home’s kitchen to

brew a cup of coffee which matched my preferences. The coffee
beans were the cheap ones bought from the nearby supermarket
and the water had only been filtered through a homeuse water
purifier, but it was very delicious. I got a shock at that time. Because
when my father made coffee with the coffee machine, he had used
the same coffee beans and water, yet the two tasted totally
different.”

When Kisaki asked for the secret behind this, her grandfather replied
nonchalantly,

210
『Because I know what kind of taste Mayumi likes.』

“My grandfather had said 『A person’s favourite taste, there are

many types.』

“Many types of favourite tastes?”

“Yeah, when humans are eating, they would be categorising

subconsciously, Group A would like this, Group B would like that.

My grandfather understood the characteristic of coffee beans. Based

on the coffee bean and the customer, he would adjust his brewing
method and think of the best combination.”

『 When asked, everyone would definitely have a favourite in their

heart. However, no one would just buy or just eat what they loved
the most, right? When they are at this store, they would eat this,
when they are at that store, they would buy this, Mayumi should
also have your own standards, right? That’s what it means to have
many types of favourites. When I work, I would always hope that my
customers can find their own favourites in my shop. I would not be
so crazy as to hope that it would be a favourite which would win over
everything else, but I wish to have my customers try different
beverages and help them find their favourite within my shop, then
provide this thing to them. 』

“I tried to ask my grandfather what my favourite was.”

『If you hear it from someone else, it would no longer be Mayumi’s

favourite. A preference is formed subconsciously and it’s something
which you believe in. No one should be telling you what it is. 』

“My grandfather refused to reveal what my 『favourite』 was, even

until the end. After that, I tried repeatedly to reproduce some of the
coffee brews my grandfather had made in the past. My grandfather
passed away when I was in my second year of
university. He taught me many things before he died. All of them did
not require complex skills to make, but even if I did end up making
beverages which I thought were delicious later on, I could not drink
the coffee made by my grandfather anymore. That must be
something which could only be brewed by others for me to drink.
So……”

Kisaki spoke as she looked at Maou’s hand.

“I feel that you might be able to reproduce the origins of my dream.

And this is related to the products sold by my ideal shop.

Simply put, it’s an aspiration to continuously seek for what

customers think is a good product.”

Maou ignored Sariel, who had leaned towards him with an enraged
expression, and thought deeply about it.

He did not take a long time to think about it.

※
“W, w, w, w, w, w, what was your answer?! That question! What was
your answer?”

“Chi-chan, what’s wrong with you?!”

When Maou came to his senses, he noticed that Chiho had looked up
at him agitated, not unlike Sariel’s behaviour at that time.

“B, b, b, b, b, because doesn’t that sentence have a similar

meaning to 『I hope you can make miso soup for me everyday』!!
Isn’t that almost equivalent to a marriage proposal!”

“M, miso soup? Proposal?! What are you talking about?! No one
mentioned such a thing, right?!”
Maou said in surprise. As for Chiho, her breathing had become very
irregular.

She understood it very well. She might have understood it, but it was
still difficult for her to believe that this was a conversation between
two colleagues who were only thinking about work.

“I know that, but it was said anyway, right! A, anyway, how did you
answer later?”

Even if she was bothered by Kisaki’s roundabout explanation,

without considering this point, this was something Chiho could not
ignore.

If the situation Emi worried about the most was to be avoided, this
was the biggest chance.

Maou respected Kisaki a lot, this was a well-known fact.

And Kisaki had just asked Maou to help her set up a business.

Kisaki opening a company and employing Maou as a full-time

employee. When Chiho talked with Kisaki in the park, she had not
thought of this option.

If they wanted Maou to stay in Japan, other than beoming a full-time

employee at MgRonalds, there was no option which would be more
effective than this.

Whether Maou strongly wished to stay in Japan would cause a huge

change in the future world.

Of course, Emi’s worries would not be resolved completely, but at

least the sadness felt by the people around him would decrease
greatly.
However, Maou pointed towards Sentucky, which was still shining,
and said a cruel answer,

“You’ll know after seeing that. Sariel agreed, but I rejected.”

“Rejected….........eh?!”

Chiho thought that Maou would definitely agree.

And as if Maou had seen through Chiho’s thoughts, he replied with a

wry smile,

“Three years is too long. No one knows what my situation would be

at that time. If it was next year, I might still trouble over it a little, but
three years is really too long.”

“That……does, make sense.”

Three years was enough to witness many changes in the world.

More accurately, that would be the period when problems in the

world would arise because of the changes from the Battle to Defeat
God.

Chiho was also unable to predict what kind of situation she would be
in after three years.

“So I could only answer if there were still openings three years later, I
hope she can invite me again.”

“I see...........eh?”

“Hm?”

“You said…… three years later?”

“Uh, what I meant is after Kisaki-san becomes independent, if she

still plans to hire me, I hope she can contact me again.”
Chiho’s eyes widened in surprise.

“W, would you accept? If she invites you three years later.”

“Kisaki-san being willing to hire me is a good chance. Like this, it

would be much better than going to a weird place to work because
of anxiousness, right? Though working with Sariel isn’t that
interesting at all.”

“W, will you stil be in contact with Kisaki-san three years later?”

“Eh? Of course, I don’t plan to change my phone number and email

address.”

Chiho was not asking about this, but from Maou’s usual attitude, it
seemed like he had not thought about the issue which Chiho and Emi
had worried over.

“Ah, oh yeah, Chi-chan, do you have time to come to my house for a

while tomorrow? It’s a little early, but is 8 in the morning alright?”

“Eh?”

“I want to talk to you about the future.”

“Fu……”

The future.

Chiho instantly started to think about the meaning behind this

sentence over and over again, and the colour of her face alternated
between red and white.

“Maou-san, trying to hit on your female high school student junior

during work is a crime, you know?”

With a cold gaze, Akiko suddenly appeared, causing Chiho to get such
a huge fright that she jumped.
“Funya?! O, o, o, o, o, ooki-san?!”

“Oh, Aki-chan. I wasn’t hitting on her.”

“Inviting Chi-chan to your house to talk about the future, forget

about hitting on her, even calling it a marriage proposal wouldn’t be
a huge stretch.”

“Even you are talking about marriage…… ah…… but the way I phrased
it just now was a little inappropriate……”

“Ooki-san, please don’t say anymore! It’s not like that!”

“Haah, alright alright, whatever, the business opposite is really good

today for some reason, so we’re really free and Kisaki-san is in a bad
mood. Look for something to do.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

“I already said it’s not what you think!”

217
Just as Maou showed a troubled smile, and Chiho looked up while
blushing fiercely----

“Why…… why are there so many customers today…… what happened

at Sentucky……?”

Behind the counter, Kisaki was checking the business revenue

records with an ashen complexion.

““(It’s Kisaki-san’s fault......)””

Seeing this situation, Maou and Chiho thought of the same thing at
the same time.

“Not wanting Chiho-chan to stay over for two nights in a row, that
does seem like the kind of consideration he would have.”

Emi, who was watching Kinanah at night in Room 201, received a call
from a strangely anxious Chiho.

『I, I have a bad feeling! Maou-san said he rejected Kisaki-san’s

invitation, everytime he says something to reassure me, he is
definitely thinking of negative things on his own!』

“He was totally seen through huh.”

Maou himself, definitely would not have expected that Chiho had
seen through him.

“Since he gathered everyone, is he planning to do something

strange?”

『B, but, maybe he wants to say that after everything ends, he

would be going back to be the Demon King and never return to
Japan.』

218
“He won’t choose to say that at this time. In addition, if he says this
in front of me, he won’t have any right to complain even if I killed
him on the spot.”

『That might be true, but Maou-san is strangely rigid sometimes!』

“I was hoping you would deny the part about me killing him, haah,
forget about that, in fact, if he told us such a thing, he would not gain
any advantage. Even if he really says this, only Alsiel would be happy,
right?”

『If Maou-san says such things in front of Yusa-san and the others, I
think Ashiya-san would get angry!』

“Either way, he was acting normally at work, right? Don’t worry so

much, and listen to what he has to say first, alright?”

『Al, alright…… I understand. Then I’ll wake up at 5 a.m tomorrow to

go to the apartment! 』

“No one would come at that time. Calm down a little, it’ll be fine.”

Emi answered with a smile and moved the phone to the other ear.

“He only told Chiho-chan about the matters regarding Kisaki-san,

right? I would be at the apartment until next morning, but he only
asked Bell to pass the message to me. Even Bell was only asked to
free up time tomorrow. Relax. I feel that he treasures you a lot.”

『W, why is even Yusa-san saying this!』

“Even me?”

『It’s nothing!............It’ll definitely, be alright, right?』

To reassure Chiho who felt uneasy, Emi chatted with her a little
longer before hanging up.
“…… Hey, you haven’t heard anything about it?”

“Nothing at all? He only said that he wanted to announce something

important and asked me to return, so I came back.”

“I see, then forget it.”

Urushihara, who was sitting on the closet, swinging his legs and
staring at the computer on his lap, answered thus, causing Emi to
breathe a sigh of relief.

When Ashiya returned to the Demon Fortress in Ente Isla, he

discovered that an unexpected person was already waiting there.

“Yo. You’re back.”

“What do you want?”

“Hey hey, what kind of greeting is that. I came here just to wait for
you because I heard that you would be coming back from the
granny’s place in Fiensi today.”

Alberto, who was waiting for Ashiya at the six tatami space in the
throne room, replied.

“That Lailah…… I already warned her not to tell anyone.”

“Don’t misunderstand. Lailah did not say anything. The granny

contacted me personally.”

“What? It was Din Dem Urs?”

Ashiya looked suspicious, but Alberto, looking stunned, said,

“This is normal. Even if the young lady Chiho and Bell mentioned you
before, the demons the granny met during the Jirga were only the
Demon King and the Malebranche Chieftian. So she contacted me to
check if you were really Alsiel. And as expected, after I interrogated

220
Lailah about it, she admitted that she helped you set up a meeting
with the granny.”

“…… I see.”

The monacle Din Dem Urs wore had a Yesod fragment embedded in
it, not only did that pair of glasses have the power to manipulate the
human souls, it could also determine if the other party was lying,
but it was impossible for Ashiya to know this.

Even so, Din Dem Urs still contacted Alberto to confirm Ashiya’s
identity. From this, it was apparent how important this matter was.

This matter would be known by the human faction of Ente Isla

sooner or later, but Ashiya believed that at this current time, it was
too early.

As if he had seen through Ashiya’s thoughts, Alberto smiled slyly,

“Because of this, I heard about that matter. I waited here for you
because I want to discuss some things with you.”

“What is it?”

“Alsiel, do you know about Wathewlama?”

Ashiya thought for a while.

“I remember that it’s the nation of a desert warrior group in the

Southern Continent.”

“That’s right. In the Southern Continent, the main nation and the
branch nations of the Tharja have hostile relations all year long, and
Wathewlama is situated between them. Simply put, they are a
netural country who place a large emphasis on combat.

The various Tharja nations have seen each other as enemies for a
long time, yet none of the countries were exterminated. This is
mainly because everyone knew that if they went out of line, they
would be targeted by Wathewlama.”

“So what?”

Ashiya may have asked this, but he already knew why Alberto
wanted to mention this.

“In the past, I met the Wathewlama Warrior Leader Lagides by

chance. Including Lagides, the leaders of Wathewlama were usually
warriors, so they are easier to negotiate with.”

“…………”

After Ashiya glared at Alberto, as if he had given up, he lowered his

gaze.

“I was too naïve, I did not expect Din Dem Urs to trust you so much.”

“I lost to Adramelech before, so there are still many people from

other clans who mock and ridicule me. Haah, it’s not just for that
reason……”

Alberto pointed to the window behind him.

“But I believe that more than anyone else, I understand the pains of
being a wandering warrior.”

“……Do you think Emilia, Emerada and Lumark will accept it?”

“Based on my personal judgement, Em would probably accept it. As

for Emilia……I’m not that confident, but it would be better to tell her
at a later time. Lumark will be fine with anything. She is someone
from the West, so when she discovers what you’re doing, or feels
that there is a need to do so, she will contact you. You can ignore her
before that.”
“You have a point. However, depending on how Wathewlama
responds, regardless of what Lumark says later, I might not be able
to respond to her.”

“Oh my, it’s good that I took action earlier. After all, regardless of the
action taken, maintaining balance is very important.”

As if Alberto was making a joke, he intentionally acted like he was

breaking into cold sweat.

“Why don’t we just head out now? That place is close to the Path of
Fire. The cold from the North will be blown away?”

“I’m sorry, but I have to return to Japan after this, so I can’t go there
today. Help me to establish the initial contact and I will contact you
later.”

“Oh, has there been progress with that lizard which has the Astral
Gem?”

“I don’t know. It would be good if that was so.”

Ashiya truly did not harbour any expectations on this matter.

It was just that the Demon King----Maou Sadao had been very
excited when he sent that summoning message, causing him to feel
uneasy instead.

“W, what is going on?”

At the same time Emi received a call from Chiho, worried that
Kinanah had nothing to eat, Suzuno went grocery shopping and
made a detour to Hatagaya after that, and then discovered that the
Sentucky Hatagaya store, bathed under the moonlight, actually
looked like it was emiting a golden glow.
No, this was beyond the standard of metaphors, that store was really
glowing intermittently.

“It, it’s glowing……and I’m sensing traces of holy magic, what is

Sariel-sama doing……”

It was past the dinner time period, and the store was not holding any
promotional event, yet the order queue stretched to outside the
store. This scene was too abnormal.

On the other hand, MgRonalds was deserted, this caused Suzuno to

feel strangely nostalgic.

At this moment, a large figure which could block Suzuno’s small

stature completely approached her quietly from behind.

“It’s glowing.”

“Wah?! L, l, l, landlady-dono?!”

The one who appeared behind Suzuno was Shiba Miki, who
appeared more dazzling than normal under the rays of the evening
sun, the western dress she was wearing did not look like it was
casual attire and was covered in crystal glass, such that she
resembled a mirror ball with arms and legs.

“Because Amane had been attacked by the opponents of those Ente

Islan children, I came to investigate after I sensed a strange aura……
but if it’s just this standard, there would be no problems
even if it was ignored.”

“N, no problems, is this really alright?”

“If he was intentionally using holy magic to gather customers, then it

would be a problem, but it does not appear to be that way. That
store is excluding an aura of happiness. This is a light of power which
is naturally produced from within.”
“Aura of happiness?”

Hearing such a term which would not even be used by a suspicious

religion or an advertisement from a small publication coming from
the mouth of the mirror ball which was also a mysterious existence,
Suzuno could not help but show a disgusted expression.

“We will never overlook those people to plan to harm this world, but
we will not go so far to eliminate those who found happiness in this
world. In fact, we would want to protect their happiness and cheer
them on.”

“I, I see……”

“Kamazuki-san, a question, have you been to that shop?”

“Uh, a few times.”

“I see. I don’t normally have any opportunities to go to this kind

of shop, so I’m a little curious and want to queue and take a look,
do you want to join me?”

“It, it’s fine! Erhm, I rushed out to buy some things, so I have to
return as soon as possible!”

Suzuno was different from Maou and the others, she did not think
that Shiba was a scary existence.

She just felt that the ‘Aura of Happiness’ emitted by Sariel was very
suspicious, so she did not want to enter the store which was filled
with that kind of aura.

Therefore, she rejected Shib’a invitation frantically, and as if she did

not feel that it was a pity, the latter replied,

“I see. Then I’ll buy some things as a souvenir for Acies, I’ll be taking
my leave.”
Then, exuding a glow which did not lose to the glow within the store,
Shiba joined the queue.

Suzuno swallowed nervously once, and because she had a bad

feeling, she walked towards MgRoanlds.

“Welcom…… eh?”

Maou, who just happened to be at the counter on the first floor,

shouted once he saw Suzuno run inside with a flustered expression.

“Suzuno?! What’s wrong! Did something happen to Kinanah?!”

Maou panicked because Suzuno had ran inside with an expression of

surprise and worry at such a late time, but Suzuno leaned against the
counter and shook her head with force.

“H, how is business today?”

“Eh?”

“I’m asking you how business is today!”

“W, why are you asking this so suddenly?!”

What kind of emergency had occurred for Suzuno to suddenly worry

about the state of MgRonald’s business?

“Did something happen to Sariel-sama during the past two days? Else
why did Sentucky become like this?”

“Eh? Oh, that’s right, some stuff did happen last night……”

“R, right now……”

Suzuno said these words sternly, causing Maou to freeze

momentarily.

“Shiba-dono is queuing at Sentucky.”

“Eh?”

Just as Maou felt perplexed and replied.

“W, what happened?”

An unseen force suddenly exploded.

The aura enveloped the whole of Hatagaya---that was the only way
to describe it, and this caused Suzuno and Maou to look up suddenly.

Not only that, even those few customers who walked into the store,
and Kawada and Akiko who were working behind the counter looked
up to check what had happened.

How should they describe the scene they saw?

The glow exuded by the Sentucky Hatagaya store surpassed its

original golden colour and turned into a diamond like dazzle.

The light shining through the windows were intense, gentle and
warm, strong enough to block out the moonlight.

“Why does it look so holy?”

“Hey, Demon King…… the flowers in the trees have bloomed……”

After Shiba entered the store, Sentucky became more dazzling, and
as if they were welcoming spring early, the trees in front of the store
bloomed with a lot of flowers.

“What are those guys doing……”

“I kind of understand why all of you are that afraid of Shiba-dono.”

In a stunned manner, the two of them watched as the mirror ball

walked away, carrying a fried chicken bucket with a satisfied
expression.
“W, what was that just now?”

Chiho, who felt a mysterious aura wash over her entirely body, could
not help but look out of the window of her own room.

That warm aura caused her to think of Emi’s and Suzuno’s holy
magic, but at the same time, she could feel some signs of a strong
presence which caused her to feel nervous, and when she opened
the window, her phone rang.

“Eh? Who’s calling. Ah, it’s Suzuki-san.”

Once Chiho looked at the screen, she noticed that the name shown
on it belonged to Emi’s good friend Suzuki Rika.

『Ah, hey, Chiho-chan, are you free to talk now? 』

“Yeah, it’s fine…… hm, probably.”

Even if she was perplexed over the true identity behind the
mysterious aura, Chiho still nodded and replied.

『It’s about what’s happening tomorrow morning. 』

“Eh? Tomorrow morning?”

『Yeah. Actually, I received a messaged sent by Maou-san this

afternoon. 』

Chiho was first surprised by the fact that Rika and Maou had each
other’s contacts, but after thinking about it carefully, Rika had
travelled between Earth and Ente Isla a few times and was already
one of the insiders who knew about the situation.

It would be completely normal for the two of them to exchange

contacts in case of emergencies.
It might be normal to do so, but why did Maou choose to contact
Rika at this time?

『However, I was working at that time, so I only discovered that

message after I got off work. I thought that even if I reply
immediately, Maou-san should still be working and be unable to
reply, so I tried to contact you. Do you know what is happening
tomorrow morning?”』

“About that…… by the way, what was written in that message you
received?”

『The message was rather simple. Something like he has something

important to say and asked if I could go to Villa Rosa

Sasazuka tomorrow morning. But there was no time written on it, so

I don’t really know what to do . 』

“Maou-san……”

Chiho could not help but mumble in a troubled voice.

This might be one of the indirect reasons why he failed the full-timer
promotion exam.

『I have to work tomorrow morning, if it’s 10 in the morning, then

I can’t go at all. But since Maou-san took the trouble to contact me,
doesn’t it make you feel that he might have made a huge decision
with regards to the matters in Ente Isla? So I personally really want
to go . 』

Rika liked Ashiya, so she harboured feelings which were similar to

Chiho’s.

Unlike Chiho, Rika did not spend as much time being in contact with
the matters of Ente Isla, but she treasured the demon
Ashiya and her own friend Emi, so she probably did not want the
demons and humans in the Ente Isla fighting each other.

“I remember he mentioned around 8 a.m.”

『 Such a strange timing. I can stay for around an hour at most. But
that can’t be helped. It’s fine if he wants to take down God, but it’s
about time to think about the future, right? Leaving us in suspense in
this kind of time is too annoying. As a leader, he should take
responsibility for what he says and when he says it. 』

“You’re, right……”

『Chiho-chan? 』

“Yes?”

In contrast to Chiho’s gloomy tone, Rika’s voice was filled with

fighting spirit.

『You can’t allow them to escape so easily. You need to grab them
tightly! 』

“...........Pu!”

These words were simple yet filled with strength.

As expected for the older sister who was older than her. Compared
to herself who started worrying in advance because she knew
some insider information, Rika’s spirit was much stronger.

When no conclusion could be reached after troubling over it, what

could truly solve the problem must be this spirit of

‘Everything will work out’.

“I will wait for you at the ticketing gates of Sasazuka station

tomorrow. Let’s go together.”

230
『Alright. Then I will reach there before 7:50 a.m. Since that’s
decided, I have sleep earlier today! I would need to setup the
recording of a drama! That’s all for now, thanks. 』

“No, I should be the one thanking you.”

『Hm? Is that so? Did I say anything? Forget it, cya. 』

Rika’s especially cheerful voice encouraged Chiho, so when she hung

up the phone, she had completely forgotten about the the
mysterious weird feeling she had just now.

This day was going to end peacefully.

Emi had been watching Kinanah the whole day, but thanks to what
Suzuno did in the morning and the fact that Urushihara had returned
midway to help, she did not feel that it was particularly exhausting.

Camio’s injuries have healed completely, and sometimes took over

Emi to keep Kinanah company, but when he saw the chicken dishes
Suzuno cooked for Kinanah to eat, he would still show a fearful
expression.

For the sake of being able to wake up early tomorrow, Chiho and
Rika went to bed one hour earlier than usual.

Alas=Ramus was extremely happy because she could stay at Villa

Rosa Sasazuka for two days consecutively.

Before Kisaki was to be transferred, she had to accept the heavy

truth that she had achieved the lowest sales record since she
became the Shop Manager for the store in front of Hatagaya station
and returned home with a sullen expression.

On the other hand, even if they did not see Sariel for the whole day,
but the flow of customers at Sentucky did not stop even after night
had come, and in the end, they were forced to close because all their
products were sold out, something which had not happened before.

When Lailah and Nord went to Shiba’s house to fetch Iron, they
discovered that Acies and Iron were hugging an empty fried chicken
bucket while sleeping with a happy expression on their faces.

Because two fried chicken buckets were not enough at all, Amane,
who had been forced to go out and buy some more, was so tired that
she had turned into ash.

And----

“D, D, Demon King-sama! W, w, what has happened here?”

“Ashiya, calm down, calm down first, there is a very deep reason
behind this!”

Once Ashiya saw Room 201, which had been turned into a mess
because of Kinanah, he started shaking. And when Maou tried his
best to placate Ashiya, the date had already changed.

“The walls, tatami and curtains…… this, this damn lizard!!”

“Wah----!! Wait! Don’t kill him! Don’t release demonic magic! This
guy is really bad news!”

“Alsiel-dono! Please tolerate it for the moment peep!!”

“Demon King-sama! Camio-dono! Please do not stop me! Even if he

is an ancient demon who is protecting the Ancient Demon King’s
legacy, he still cannot be forgiven! We are the ones who have to bow
our heads to Landlady-san, you know?! Damaging the interior like
this, who knows how much repair fees we would need to pay later!
This place forbids the rearing of pets in the first place, and she
actually gave us a chance, and it actually turned out like this in the
end…… and also, Urushihara! Where did you get those headphones
from! You didn’t have those before, right!!”

“……Your eyes are sharp……does it matter, I have been working hard

recently, you know.”

“You can say those things after you have made up for the negative
points from before!!”

“Ashiya! Please be quieter! Kinanah finally fell asleep! If you wake

him up, things would become troublesome again!”

“No, Demon King-sama, this is an important question! As long as I

still have breath, I will not allow this lizard and Urushihara to do
whatever they want!”

“Hey, did you just group me and the lizard together.”

“Be grateful that I’m not treating you as something less than the
lizard! You bought those headphones online, right! As soon as I
thought that you were acting more mature recently, you did this!
And I thought that you have regained some awareness that you’re a
Demon General of the Demon King Army……”

“Yes yes, I’m really sorry. Cya, good night.”

“Wait a moment, Urushihara! Damn it, open the closet! I haven’t

finished!”

“A, Ashiya, seriously, please be quieter! It’s alright, I worked very

seriously this month and the situation this time is very special,

Landlady-san would definitely give us another chance too……”

“Demon King-sama, is this really alright? Even if we know each

other’s true identities, the relationship between us and Landladysan
had not changed at all. The only difference is in whether we are
lodging in this apartment or lodging on Earth. Do you understand?
We can continue living in this world because of the kindness of
Landlady-san.”

“Y, yeah, even though lodging on Earth sounds a little exaggerated,

but our words and actions are the same as before.”

“In this situation, we are the ones at fault, how can we hope for the
other party’s forgiveness at the start. Landlady-san would not feel
troubled even if we’re not around. At times like this, we should be
humble and apologise sincerely, then hope that the other party
would be kind and not charge us that much!”

“I understand! I will explain the situation to her properly, please just

tolerate it for today!”

“Ah, this feels nostalgic. Even if it’s very troublesome.”

“Urushihara! I heard everything!”

“Yes yes, I’m sorry! ……Eh? Delivery status confirmation

email……arriving tomorrow morning? Did I by anything else?”

“Damn you, Urushiahra! What else did you buy……!!”

“Ahhh, you’re noisy! Ashiya, go back to Ente Isla!!”

“How can I just leave this situation alone and go back!!”

Ashiya, who only returned in the middle of the night, argued fiercely
with Urushihara and Maou, and this continued late into the night.

Emi and Suzuno, who heard this conversation through the wall, could
not help but glance at each other from their futons which were
placed next to each other.

“……Unbelivable.”
“Yeah.” “Fu…………

fu…........................”

Alas=Ramus, sleeping between the two of them, did not react to the
noise which was created by Maou and the others through the wall
and was sleeping soundly.

“Not much time has passed, yet it feels strangely nostalgic.”

“If it can continue like this, the world would be peaceful.”

“I don’t wish for it to always be like this. It’s still alright for Emilia
because you don’t stay here often, but it would be too much

if it’s like this everyday. Especially since Lucifer’s closet is situated

towards my side.”

“Oh, I see.”

Emi smiled as she helped to cover Alas=Ramus with the blanket

again.

Suzuno also adjusted the blanket on Alas=Ramus’s other side, then

crawled back into her own futon.

“However, I’ll just close one eye for today.”

Room 201 was still enveloped in a wind of lectures over domestic

matters.

It was just noise, but Emi and Suzuno still treated this as background
music which would help them go to sleep, and they drifted off to
sleep a short while later.
※
8 in the morning.
Even if it was this kind of time, there are many people gathered in
the yard of Villa Rosa Sasazuka.

Ashiya, Urushihara, Emi, Chiho, Suuzno, Alas=Ramus. Acies, Rika,

Amane, Lailah, Nord, Iron and Shiba.

“Then, gathering so many people, what do you want to do? You even
invited Rika without my knowledge……”

Emi spoke first.

“And what’s with the things in your hands? You plan to open a
mobile zoo?”

Maou was carrying Camio in his left hand and Kinanah in his right
hand.

Once Amane discovered that Kinanah was not tied up, she showed a
tense expression.

“Uh……I thought about it for a long time, but it can only be done this
way in the end. Because it’s something important, so I felt that I have
to tell everyone. Sorry for asking everyone to come here so early.”

“It, it’s alright……Maou-san, what is that important matter……”

Chiho had turned pale before the conversation had even begun.

In contrast, Rika, who was standing next to Chiho, was looking at

Maou with a strangely battle-ready expression on her face.

As if Rika was supporting Chiho, she was gripping Chiho’s left hand
tightly.

“Let me say this first, you should understand that depending on the
situation, Aunt Mikitty and I might need to take action.”

Amane exuded a rather dangerous aura.

“……Honestly speaking, I don’t know how things will turn out.”

“H, how can this……”

Maou’s reply caused Chiho’s legs to tremble and the gazes from Emi
and Suzuno sharpened.

“Hey……whatever it is, just start already……I’m sleepy.”

To keep his distance from Shiba, Urushihara could only sit at the top
step of the apartment’s common staircase, but his sentence did not
dispel the tense atmosphere at all.

“Haah, some people might know about it already, but I did not pass
the full-timer promotion exam.”

Because it was meaningless to drag this out, Maou started to speak

slowly.

“Ashiya, I’m sorry. You have been supporting me the whole time, but
it turned out like this.”

“Please don’t say that……this cannot be helped as well……”

With a pained expression on his face, Ashiya shook his head.

“As all of you know, we believe that the Astral Gem is likely to be on
this Kinanah, and after obtaining this legacy, we will immediately
begin the battle to free the siblings of Alas=Ramus, Acies and Iron.”

The lizard held by Maou seemed to have shouted something, but

other than the demons, no one else understood it.

“(You’re noisy, shut up.) Then……because I had been unable to

achieve my initial goal, to become a full-time employee in Japan,

I don’t have any reason to stay in Japan

anymore.” “Maou-san……”
“Chiho-chan, hold yourself together. Once you feel that the
atmosphere is strange, you have to hold him tightly, hold him tightly,
okay.”

Tears began to well up in Chiho’s eyes, Rika hugged Chiho’s

shoulders tightly, encouraging her constantly.

Maou decided to leave Japan.

Everyone present sensed such thoughts in Maou’s heart.

However----

“But……but. I wanted to say this at first, but actually, someone

scouted me.”

Everyone was perplexed.

“““Huh?”””

A few people shouted this at the same time, this reaction caused
Maou to become flustered.

“What kind of reaction is that, believe me alright. The details are a

personal matter, so I can’t you all of you about it, but someone said
that once she becomes independent, she wants to invite me to start
a business with her. It’s just that it would only happen three years
later……”

“Why are you saying this now?”

Emi felt truly confused----

“……Maou-san, didn’t you say that you rejected it……”

Chiho stopped crying and asked this, her neck tilting slightly due to
the confusion she felt.
“I have to reject it. After all, it’s three years later. I don’t plan to lose
to Ignora or die in battle, but if I obtain a huge injury which might
immobilise me after agreeing, wouldn’t it be bad for the other
party?” “……

Yeah……”

So it was for that kind of reason.

Maou really only rejected this because he could not predict what
would happen later on, but if Kisaki had not changed her mind after
three years, he would agree.

The members who knew about Kisaki’s dream beforehand could not
understand why Maou would want to say such a thing at this time.
Those who did not know Kisaki that well, could no longer follow what
Maou was saying.

“Simply put, even though I can’t go into details now, but because of
different reasons from before, I have not given up becoming a full-
time employee in Japan. So my poor life here would need to be
extended for a while.”

“Maou-san!!”

The next instant, Chiho could not hold herself back and lunged
towards Maou.

“Owah?!”

“Chirp?!”

『Kreee?!』

Even if Camio and Kinanah got a huge shock, Chiho did not care
about that.
“I, I was so afraid that Maou-san would really leave Japan this time
and go back to be the Demon King, I was so worried……!!”

“Chi, Chi-chan?!”

Chiho ignored the chicken and lizard and hugged Maou tightly,
precious tears flowing down her face.

They might be precious, but in fact, she still did not know what Maou
wanted to say.

Even if Emi and Suzuno showed relieved expressions for an instant,

they frowned and showed suspiscious expressions immediately, and
in Rika’s case----

“……Why am I here?”

She asked this directly.

“Rika-chan is right……in the end you asked everyone who is so busy

to come here just to declare your determination?”

Amane said this with some shock, but Maou shook his head
frantically.

“It, it’s not like that! I was just worried that everyone might feel
uneasy, so I took the chance to clarify it……Urushihara, it’s your fault
for saying those things earlier!”

“……Huh? What? This awkward atmosphere is my fault?”

“Because you said before that I have no reason to stay in Japan

anymore, I was worried that Suzuno or Chi-chan might think the
same way. If not, why do I have to specially explain to everyone the
reason why I’m continuing to stay in Japan! If I made Chichan worry,
then I would feel bad about it, but in the worst case scenario, Emi
and Suzuno might just act rashly and decide to kill me, you know.”

240
“You……”

“You’re a lord who doesn’t deserve any loyalty……”

“Eh?! Why are both of you showing such expressions?”

Emi and Suzuno had rolled their eyes and were now glaring at Maou
fiercely.

What Maou said just now had clearly angered them.

“The worst.”

“It looks like we aren’t trusted at all.”

“N, no, you two are saying such things now?! Isn’t this your
relationship with me?!”

“……No, Demon King-sama, honestly speaking, I feel that what you

said just now is a bit inappropriate chirp.”

“Ehh?!”

“……Papa, you don’t trust Mama?”

“Maou……at this point in time, it would be impossible for Emi and

Suzuno to attack you without listening to your explanation first,
right? Is your brain working?”

“Is what I said just now so bad that you have to suspect the state of
my brain?! A, Alas=Ramus, you misunderstood! Papa trusts Mama a
lot.”

“That’s a lie.”

“It’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“Iron, shall we move over there?”

Iron and Lailah said this coldly, and as for Nord, he prepared to take
Iron and leave while showing a wry smile.

“W, wait a moment! Don’t leave so quickly, I haven’t gotten to the

main part! This isn’t the main thing I wanted to say! Why would I
gather everyone just for the sake of saying this kind of ting! Listen
until the end!”

Maou frantically got everyone to stay, but other than Ashiya and
Chiho, everyone else looked at him with extremely cold gazes.

“It’s not like that. For this matter, I have to obtain everyone’s
permission beforehand……especially that of Emi’s. To defeat Ignora
and become a full-time employee three years later, I need to carry
out one task. So I wanted to inform everyone first……”

“What is it, say it quickly.”

From Maou’s flustered attitude, Emi deduced that the main topic
would not be anything that serious.

However, Maou carefully placed Camio on the ground, stepped away

from Chiho and said,

“After listening to what Kinanah said, I think that if this goes on, we
might be unable to obtain the Astral Gem successfully. And the other
legacies might be hiding secrets which we do not know about.
Therefore,

Maou said determinedly,

“I have decided to go to the Demon World and investigate this!

During my next off-day, I plan to return to the Demon World.”

A short while later.

“You haven’t gone back yet?”

“Eh?”

Emi, who Maou had specifically mentioned, replied nonchalantly.

“Eh, what is that supposed to mean……”

“Eh? Did you gather everyone just for the sake of saying this?”

“I thought the Demon King had already returned to the Demon

World ages ago.”

“Eh?!”

After Emi and Suzuno had spoken, it was not just Emi, Chiho and
Amane, even Lailah and Rika wre nodding in agreement.

“Because Camio-dono and the Malebranche Chieftains would usually

communicate closely with one another, we would naturally assume
this, right? I thought you had gone there during New Year.”

“Eh……ehhh?!”

Everyone’s mild reaction caused Maou to feel depressed instead.

“B, but I’m the Demon King, you know? If I returned to the Demon
World without saying anything, I’m afraid that all of you would worry
that I’m plotting something evil, so I always thought that I could not
return just like that, and carefully assigned these matters for Ashiya,
Urushihara and the Malebranches to handle……”

“Maou-san……you were considering our feelings after all.”

For unknown reasons, Chiho was moved by this----

“I am more shocked that you actually believed that I had not

thought about anything……”

But when phrased differently, it would have turned out like this,
causing Maou to have mixed feelings about this.
“A, anyway, returning to the original topic. Kinanah and Camio first
clashed with each other in the Demon World, and Kinanah’s home
seemed to have been prepared by Sataniel. Thanks to everyone’s
effort, the operation to retrieve the legacies have gone well so far,
and because of that, I do not wish to make a mistake at the last
Astral Gem. So……”

At this moment, a vehicle suddenly stopped in front of the

apartment, and a young deliveryman from Sasuke Deliveries got out
of the vehicle.

“Ah, Fukuyama-san.”

Urushihara, who recognised the other party, murmured the name of

the deliveryman, and the deliveryman known as Fukuyama stopped
walking in surprise when he noticed the large group gathered in
front of the apartment.

“E, erhm……there is a Jungle delivery for Maou-san.”

“Urushihara……you, just yesterday, and now today……!”

The combination of Sasuke Delivery and Jungle caused Ashiya to

glare at Urushihara on the stairs with an angry expression----

“Eh?! It’s not me, alright?! I only bought the headphones?!”

But Urushihara shook his head agitatedly.

“Ah, sorry. For once, this is for me.”

“D, Demon King-sama?! Demon King-sama actually shops online?!

What is going on?!”

Maou ignored Ashiya, who was in shock, and walked towards the
deliveryman while holding onto Kinanah.
He pulled out a pen from his pocket and signed on the receipt,
then the deliveryman took out a rather large box from the vehicle.

“Demon King-sama……what did you order?”

“Ah, I was thinking it was a good chance since I asked everyone to

come over, but since I have been busy handling Kinanah recently, I
could only prepare this, I hope everyone can understand.”

After saying this, Maou took a package out from the box and passed
it to Chiho.

“Here, this is for Chi-chan.”

“……Maou-san! This is……!”

Because that package was still wrapped in a layer of paper with the
Jungle logo on it, no one could tell what Maou bought, but he then
said a sentence which was more shocking than him going to the
Demon World.

“Today is White Day. I wanted to prepare something more

meaningful, but I could not find the time in the end.”

“Uwah……?!”

Chiho, Suzuno and Emi were shaken greatly by this, and the look in
Acies’s eyes was as if she had discovered prey.

“Eh……c, can I open it?!”

“O, of course……”

Chiho, who looked so agitated that it seemed like she was going to
eat the package, tore open the wrapping excitedly, and discovered
that there was a small fruit candy gift box inside.

“Wah! W, w, wah!”
Like a child, Chiho excitedly examined the candy box from all angles.

“T, thank you! I, I never expected to receive a return gift……!”

“Since Chi-chan has helped us a lot, and there are no other activities
at the moment, I should at least give the return gift on the actual
day. Everyone’s gift was ordered through Jungle though, so I feel
kind of bad about it.”

“I’m so happy! I’m going to frame it up and display it!”

“No, you should just eat it.”

Maou said with a troubled smile, then took out other packages from
the cardboard box.

“Hey, Suzuki Rika.”

“Eh? I have one too? And it seems bigger than Chiho-chan’s?!”

Judging just from the size alone, the package Maou presented to Rika
seemed to be ten times bigger than the one Chiho received.

“Yours is more special, since it includes Ashiya’s and Urushihara’s

share.”

““Ah.””

Ashiya and Urushiahra said this at the same time.

Ashiya had been in a situation where he had been unable to

think about a return gift for White Day and Urushihara would not
even think about it.

“It looks big, but there’s nothing that amazing inside, so please don’t
expect too much. It’s popcorn imported from overseas, which seems
to be rather famous recently.”
The considerate action of their lord, caused Rika to reply in a
perplexed manner,

“T, thank you……uh, I didn’t expect to receive a return gift either.”

But she still accepted the large package from Maou in th end.

“Then, hey, Suzuno, Acies.”

“S, sorry. No, erhm, I got a shock, but I’m really sorry.”

“Yay! I never expected Maou to remember White Day! Yahoo!”

Suzuno, who had not recovered from the shock, accepted the
package nervously. As for Acies, she did not even listen to anything
which was said, snatched the package from Maou’s hands, and begin
to eat what was inside.

“……Does everyone think that I don’t normally think about such

things……then, this is for Landlady-san and Amane-san.”

“Oh my, you shouldn’t have.”

“Eh? For us too? I don’t remember giving you anything.”

Amane, who did not expect to be called, widened her eyes in

surprise.

“Because you have looked out for us and helped us a lot. Then, hey,
Alas=Ramus.”

“Oh!”

Understanding that she would receive a gift from Maou, Alas=Ramus

walked up to him with a grin.

“Alas=Ramus, it’s White Day today. You gave Papa chocolate earlier,
right? So Papa will give you a present today. Here, for you.”
Maou, smiling as well, passed the gift to Alas=Ramus.

“The same!!”

Once Alas=Ramus discovered that Maou had given her the same
candy which Chiho received, she brought it over to Chiho, showing
her the gift with a grin.

“Everyone, so many!!”

“Ah, so that’s why he chose this kind of fruit candy.”

Once Suzuno heard Alas=Ramus say ‘everyone’, she understood why

Maou chose this type of fruit candy.

The packaging had images of the candy in different colours, so this

caused Alas=Ramus to think of the colours of the Sephira.

“I really didn’t have much time, so I could not take my time to

choose.”

Was he trying to hide his embarrassment, or was he saying what he

really thought, Maou scratched his head while saying this.

“Ah, oh yeah, Emi.”

“...........Eh?”

White Day return gifts, this had nothing to do with her.

To Emi, it was enough knowing that Maou unexpectedly treasured

his current environment and was working hard to maintain it, so
when she was called, she showed a surprised expression.

“This is for you.”

“................Oh.”

Emi made an air-headed sound.

“I, I didn’t……give anything to you……”

In actual fact, she did give chocolate to Maou.

So that he would not find out, Emi chose to hide it within the large
amount of chocolate which had been given by the demons.

Therefore, it should be impossible for Maou to know about this.

“No, you did.”

“Eh?!”

Did he find out?!

Emi blushed instantly, she looked down quickly, but broke into cold
sweat.
250
If her action of secretly giving chocolate was found out, she would
definitely die from embarrassment, and if Maou revealed this in
front of everyone, especially when Chiho was there, she would not
be able to face anyone again.

“Y, you probably got it wrong……”

“How can I get this wrong.”

“Eh?! E, eh?!”

Maou insisted that he had received Emi’s chocolate.

Had she been found out?

Just as Emi prepared herself for this----

“If you had not helped, no matter how simple the method was,
Alas=Ramus would not have completed the chocolate on her own.”

“……Ah….............a, ahh!”

‘Ah, I see’, coming close to saying this out loud, Emi finally
understood the situation.

When Chiho was teaching the demons how to make chocolate

on Valentine’s Day, Emi did help supervise Alas=Ramus as she
made ‘handmade chocolate’.

So Maou had been referring to that.

“And you were a lot of help recently, so this is also considered an

appreciation gift.”

“……T, thanks.”

Chiho, Suzuno and Rika did not think that Maou and Emi were
behaving strangely.

251
As Emi breathed a sigh of relief, she sensed that she was feeling
some regret, this shocked her.

Was she hoping that the Demon King would notice those chocolates?

“The fact that I failed to become a full-time employee should have

caused you and Chi-chan a lot of worry because of different reasons.
Through this action, this would make you understand that you were
thinking too much.”

“……”

Emi could not rebuke at all, because it was true that she had been
worrying about Maou’s plans for the future.

However, Emi had thought that she had already completely analysed
Maou’s situation this time, yet things have developed beyond her
expectations, and she had worried for nothing.

Why was the Demon King capable of knowing what she had been
thinking about so far?

Why was she unable to understand what the Demon King was
thinking?

Why did she dislike this?

Why did she hope that the Demon King could notice those
chocolates……

“Oh, one more thing, Emi.”

“W, what is it?!”

When her name was called, she looked up quickly.

“I did not prepare your gift for this reason, but when I go to the
Demon World, you have to come along.”
“W, why?”

“Is what I said so surprising? Since I have to bring Kinanah along, of

course it would be safer if there was one more person who can use
holy magic to fight. However, Suzuno is busy with coordinating the
humans in Ente Isla, and I can’t bring Chi-chan to the Demon World.
And in a sense, when you’re not working, your time is very flexible,
right?”

“Go to the Demon World, me?”

The Demon King, who had been her enemy, actually invited her to
his hometown, this caused Emi to widen her eyes in surprise.

“Please! If you can’t, I can only look for Lailah, but she’s not
reassuring at all. You’re more dependable.”

“T, to say that I’m dependable.”

“Hey, Satan, saying that is just too mean! By the way, don’t I get any
candy?”

Lailah interrupted and complained, but as Maou kept his hands

together, maintaining the posture he assumed as he plead with

Emi, he glared at Emi’s mother.

“What are you expecting. Go and ask your husband.”

“Hmph, I know that.”

When Emi looked up, Maou was no longer standing in front of her,
and when she saw her mother ask Maou for White Day candy
despite her older age, Emi realised that she felt exhausted even if
she had not done anything much.

“Don’t worry, I have prepared it.”

Then her father even played along with what Maou said and gave
this affectionate reply, doubling the exhaustion she felt.

“Ehh~I’m so envious of Yusa-san. I want to go to the Demon World

too. I want to see the world where Maou-san was born.”

“Honestly, I would not recommend Sasaki-san to go. Not only is it

dangerous, there is nothing interesting to see there.”

Chiho was envious that Emi was needed by Maou, and Ashiya
showed a troubled smile at this.

“I’m interested in what the Demon World looks like, and if the
schedule could match up later on, I do wish to go there.”

“Anyone is fine, can I go back to sleep now?”

Suuzno looked disappointed while Urushihara was not interested at

all.

“If Suzuno is free to go, that’s fine as well. I just need someone who
can use holy magic……”

Once Maou invited Suzuno, Emi said without thinking----

“I, I understand. I’ll go, I’ll go already. It won’t take that long, right?”

As if she was trying to stop Maou from inviting Suzuno, she said this.

“Oh, really! You’re willing to go! Sorry about that. One day is enough!
We’re just going to explore the place where Camio enncountered
Kinanah.”

“B, but just in case, it would be beter to choose a day when we don’t
have to work the next day! It would be bad if we end up having to
fight with angels or are unable to return to Japan because of
unexpected circmstances!”
“Of course. You don’t have any work shifts next weekend, right?
Then let’s choose that Saturday.”

“S, Saturday huh. I understand. B. but this is my first time going to

the Demon World, so you should prepare the supplies and anything
else which is needed. Alas=Ramus would be going as well, so
remember to take that into consideration!”

Even if she sensed that she was speaking abnormally fast, Emi could
not control it.

Why did she interrupt Maou from inviting Suzuno just now?

Emi, who no longer understood her own thoughts, arranged with

Maou to go the Demon World just like this, and Chiho and

Rika saw this, they frowned and started whispering to each other.

“……Chiho-chan, you should ask Maou-san to treat you to a very~

expensive~ parafait later.”

“……It’s alright. This can’t be helped. What happened today can

already be considered a miracle, and I will continue to live on while
harbouring this beautiful memory.”

“……But, they’re arranging a date in front of you, and are even

including overnight plans.”

“Chiho-chan! Rika! I heard everything!!”

“Oh my!”

“But……”

“What is this about a date?”

“You didn’t need to hear that!! Anyway, are you done with what you
wanted to say?! Then I’m going back!! Goodbye!!
Alas=Ramus. Let’s go!!”

Emi left, blushing furiously and holding Alas=Ramus by the hand, and
after Maou watched the two leave in a stunned manner, he turned
around and asked.

“Did I, say something wrong?”

“Maou-kun, please allow me, a mature onee-san, to give a warning

to a lost lamb.”

Amane stood next to the stunned Maou with an exasperated

expression and spoke as if she felt that he was hopeless.

“You need to pay more attention to time, place, occasion and your
choice of words. When you live in this world, there are times when
you have to go along with the atmosphere and speak
appropriately. Onee-san can sort of understand why you failed to
become a full- time employee.”

“W, what is that supposed to mean?!”

Maou seemed to have received a huge blow from what he felt was a
random attack, but other than Maou, everyone else was silently
agreeing with Amane.
257
 Chapeter 4 : Demon King and
Hero, Standing in the Demon
World

Red sky, black clouds and red land as far as the eye could see.

Producing sounds which resembled that of groaning giants, the

raging winds in the sky caused the atmosphere to tremble, as if these
winds were aiming to mix everything in the sky and earth.

When Emi first laid her eyes on the scenery of the Demon World,
where Maou, where all the demons lived, she breathed in sharply.

This scenery, which seemed like the materialisation of desolation,

loneliness and grief, caused her to speak in a shaky voice,

“This is the De……”

“Maou! Sand got into my eyes!!”

“There’s still as much sand as before……”

『Hey, Satan, why did we come to the Boulder Wastelands? We’ll

get attacked by the Legion if we stay here! 』

“Chirp chirp? Chirp Chirp disappeared?”

“I already said that I am not some chirp chirp……”

Then she swallowed her words.

“……”

Emi had arrived at the hometown of her past enemy at his invitation,
faced with this complex situation, she did not know how to deal with
her mixed emotions, but either way, the companions around her
were really too noisy.
258
“Hey, Alas=Ramus, sand would go into your eyes. Be patient and
wear your googles and mask.”

“Maou! My eyes hurt too! My mouth is filed with sand!”

“I prepared your share, did you actually forget to bring them!”

“Only being nice to Nee-san, that’s mean! Help me wear it too! Hey--
-! Hurry! Hey----!”

“Is this the tone of asking someone for a favour? Hey, Lailah, help
her wear them!”

“Alright, alright. Acies, turn around a bit, okay.”

“Pu----! Maou is useless! Meanie! By the way, Mama, what’s that on

your head?”

“I have long hair, so I bought this shawl to protect it from the sand in
the demon world.”

“Papa, chirp chirp. Chirp chirp is gone!”

“Alas=Ramus, he’s chirp chirp, you know?”

“Ehh............no! He’s not chirp chirp! He’s

scary!”

“Hey, Camio, you’re not allowed to make Alas=Ramus cry.”

“Ah, n, no, erhm, I, even if I’m not chirp chirp, I’m still considered
chirp chirp.”

“……”

And it was likely that none of these companions have noticed Emi’s
feelings.
On White Day, Emi had agreed to go to the Demon World without
carefully listening to the reason for doing so, but Maou actually had
deep reasons for inviting Emi to come along.

Firstly, if Kinanah remained uncontrollable after returning to the

Demon World, they needed a holy magic user who was stronger than
Camio to stop him.

In addition, Kamael’s whereabouts were unknown, and without any

guarantee that Heaven would not send another assassin over, with
just Maou and Camio, there might not be enough battle power.

With Maou’s current state, as long as he worked together with Acies,

he would win even if the was facing three angels.

However, Maou greatly lacked experience in controlling Acies, and

did not clearly know what that power was.

Rather than depending on this mysterious power, it would be better

to gather more stable battle power.

When Maou was fighting Kamael at Sasahata High School, he had

used 『a power which was neither demonic magic or holy magic』,
but until now, he had been unable to confirm if that power had
similar characteristics to the power used when he fought against
Gabriel and the other angels in Azure Sky Canopy in the Eastern
Continent.

Furthermore, just like what Maou had said, as long as Hero Emilia
came along, even if the humans taking part in the Battle to

Defeat God knew that the Demon King had returned to the Demon
World before, they would not worry too much about it.

Since the reason for Maou and the others returning to the Demon
World was to trigger Kinanah’s memories and obtain details on the

260
Ancient Demon King Satan’s legacies, then Kinanah and Camio, who
had fought over the Astral Gem, had to be present.

Lailah still remembered the events which occurred between the

Ancient Demon King Satan and Heaven, so if they encountered any
angels or things left behind by Sataniel, she might be of use.

This was the first time Demon King Satan returned to Japan after the
invasion of Ente Isla, but after choosing the expedition members
based on the previously stated reasons, it ended up becoming a
family trip.

Beside Emi, because Alas=Ramus did not know that Camio, who
changed back into his original form, was actually that black chicken,
she kept saying that chirp chirp had disappeared.

Because Camio was afraid of making Alas=Ramus cry, he kept

trying to make him look smaller to comfort her, and Acies kept
whining to Lailah so Lailah would help her put on the sand
protection gear.

It totally looked like a pair of grandparents trying to comfort their

granddaughters.

As for Kinanah who ran around their feet, he should be

considered the pet which could not be left at home while
travelling.

“Haah……”

Thinking about it carefully, with things as they are now, there was
no need to feel nervous at all.

To many Ente Isla humans, demons were still their enemies, and the
Demon World was a wicked realm filled with demons and located far
away from the human relam.

But for Emi right now, the Demon King was already----
“Hey, Emi, are you alright?”

When Emi looked up, she saw a familiar face which was situated
much higher than where she would normally look.

With only one horn left, and a huge body that she had to look
upwards to see fully.

Covering his whole body was the Demon King’s coat which Emi once
pointed her holy sword towards, aiming for the chest.

“If you feel uncomfortable, you need to say so immediately. After all,
this place would be considered the worst kind of environment for
you.”

Not knowing how he interpreted Emi’s sigh, as the leader of the

demons, the enemies of humankind, Demon King Satan, with an
imposing face, showed concern for Emi.

Naturally, the Demon World was filled with demonic magic.

The concentration was so high that one might even doubt if the
energy depletion described by Shiba was true. If a comparison had to
be made, the situation here was like a place filled with poisonous
gas, a normal person might just die if they stayed here.

“……It’s still alright currently. Thanks for the concern.”

Emi honestly accepted the concern from Demon King Satan, who was
no longer her enemy.

“However, if it’s really becoming dangerous, I will transform in

a place which Kinanah can’t see.”

“I understand. But really, don’t push yourself. This is the first time I
have taken a human to the Demon World, so I don’t know what will
happen.”
“……Yeah.”

To humans, the demonic magic in the Demon World was just like
extremely poisonous miasma, and if she needed to resist against it at
her full power, Emi would need to transform into her Hero mode,
this would also lessen the burden on her body.

However, Kinanah viewed the angels from Heaven- - -what he

termed as 『Legion Warriors』, as enemies.

If she turned into Hero Emilia, with the same physical characteristics
as Gabriel and Kamael, in front of Kinanah, no one knew how he
would react.

Therefore, unless an emergency occurred, Emi had to seal her Hero

mode.

“Rather than that, you and Camio have regained your original forms,
yet Kinanah is still in his lizard form.”

“……Ah, that’s true.”

“Hey, don’t let down your guard too much.”

Satan only just realised that the lizard at his feet had not
absorbed the demonic magic around him and was still in the lizard
form just like when he was in Villa Rosa, confusing Satan greatly.

When Kinanah was in Japan, he was so greedy that he even absorbed

the minute amount of demonic magic released by Satan.

Since the atmosphere here was filled with demonic magic, it would
not have been strange even if he had already grown to the same size
as those monsters in the special effects movies……

『Hey, Kaminijah. 』
Kinanah ignored the confused gazes around him and looked up at
Camio.

“Hm?”

『Damn you, what did you do to Nothung』

“……So it’s still this after all?”

Satan said with some disappointment.

It seemed like to the lizard, who had dementia, the Nothung was
something he held deep regret for.

Satan had hoped that when Kinanah returned to the Demon World,
he might say something different after breathing in the different air,
but in the end, he was still concerned about the Nothung.

Camio’s feelings appeared to be the same as Satan’s, he looked

disappointed for an instant, then----

“……Demon King-sama, please forgive my rudeness.”

“Eh? What……ugoh?!”

Camio suddenly touched Satan’s broken horn, injecting his own

demonic magic into it.

“It hurts! What are you doing!”

Satan protested tearfully because a strange power was injected into

his old wound, but Camio bowed his head lightly and answered,

“Please wait a moment. We might be able to trick him if we did this.”

“Eh? You said trick……”

“Hey, some kind of demonic magic seems to be approaching.”

At this moment, Lailah pointed to the eastern sky and shouted this.
“Hm?”

When Satan and the others looked in that direction, they discovered
that a very strong demonic magic presence was flying towards them.

“My apologies. I was the one who called that here.”

Camio immediately flew towards the sky.

“Eh? Papa?”

Alas=Ramus’s gaze followed Camio, and for unknown reasons, she

addressed the thing Camio 『summoned』 as 『Papa』.

“That is, a sword?”

Camio caught a sword in the sky.

“Could that be……”

Emi and Satan had an impression of that sword.

There were countless jewels embedded in the scabbard, with the

inside harbouring a frightening amount of demonic magic, that was a
demonic sword crafted from the Demon King’s horn.

It could be because the ‘Yesod’ fragment on the scabbard had been

removed, but the demonic magic emitted by that demonic sword
could be felt even if the sword had not been pulled out.

“Ah……that’s, my……”

“That’s right. This sword contains Demon King-sama’s cut off horn.”

Ah, so Camio had been creating a resonance between Satan’s horn

and demonic magic.
However, after making contact with this sword in the Demon World,
it was apparent that this sword was still emitting a sinister aura, far
stronger than when they saw it in Choshi.

“Agitating my old wound would make it fly over, what kind of curse is
that.”

“In my opinion, even if that part is ignored, the curse on this weapon
is already strong enough.”

Emi said with an awkward smile.

Then she looked up at Satan’s horn which she had cut off in the past.

“I’m in no position to say this……but that can’t be healed anymore?”

“It should be impossible. It has been taken to be a material for the

sword after all, if it can be healed after that was done, then even the
part of Room 201 which had been eaten by Kinanah could be
restored.”

“My deepest apologies, Demon King-sama. If I had treated that as

something left behind by Demon King-sama and risked my life to
recover it from the Demon Fortress which had been conquered by
the humans and taken it back to the Demon World……”

Camio opened his mouth to apologise, but Satan shook his head and
replied,

“It’s alright. There’s still a chance for it to grow back anyway.”

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

“Look here. I only found out when I changed back to my demon form
earlier.”
Satan squatted slightly, allowing the two of them to observed the
surface of the horn which had been cut by Emi.

The surface of the cut portion, which had been as flat as a chopped
piece of wood, now had a slight bump on it, such that the surface
was now uneven.

“It’s only a little, but it grew out a little.”

“It, it’s that kind of structure?”

“Now that you mention it, Demon King-sama’s horns do change

shape as you grew. When you were young, those horns were shorter
than my claws.”

“It seems that way. Haah, but it only grew that much even if close to
two years have passed, who knows when balance would be
restored.”

Satan tapped his intact horn.

“And right now, I already feel that it’s fine even if it can’t be healed.
This horn represents my past mistakes. Even if it’s a horn,

it still hurt a lot when it was cut, and even if I can tolerate pain well,
this doesn’t mean I like that feeling. If I can make use of that to warn
myself not to make the same mistake during the Battle to Defeat
God, then it’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

Satan got up and smiled at Emi.

“We have fought enough. If we’re so stupid to revert to our original

relationship after going through so much, then it might be better off
if we died.”

“Ugh……”
Satan’s unexpected words caued Emi to become momentarily
speechless, then she started blushing,

“Wha, these, these words were said by you……I, I don’t think that
way.”

Emi had confided similar thoughts to Chiho before, but now she had
unexpected heard these words, as if she had lost the ability to speak
properly, she stammered.

Satan, Maou was thinking of the same thing.

Just like how Emi no longer wanted to fight with Maou, Maou did not
want to fight with Emi either.

If they could avoid it, they would do so.

“I……”

“Haha, but the important task right now would still be to free
Alas=Ramus’s siblings. Hey, Camio, where do we need to go to reach
Kinanah’s cave? Kamael might still be nearby, so we it’s best that we
avoid staying in this area for too long. If the demons left behind in
the Demon World discover my existence, things would become
troublesome as well.”

“……”

Camio glanced towards Emi, but he said nothing and answered his
lord’s question.

“It’s in the direction which Demon King-sama’s sword had flew from,
but if we enter Kinanah’s cave carelessly, he might get angry. The
power he possesses is really very frightening. So……hey, Kinanah,
take it.”

『Yeah.』
“This is Nothung.”

“Eh, erhm……wouldn’t it be better to give him the actual thing?”

Camio seemed to be using the fact that Kinanah did not comprehend
the situation fully to make Kinanah believe that the horn demonic
sword was the Nothung.

However, since the real Nothung was in Ente Isla, perhaps it would
be more appropriate to spend some thing to bring it over……just as
Satan thought this----

『What is going on! 』

Kinanah roared angrily, and just as Satan was thinking that they
could not trick him after all----

『 Damn you Caminijah! You actually allowed the Nothung to

degrade this much! I already told you so many times, regardless of
how long the war drags on, you need to sharpen the blade
properly! You won’t be able to properly cut down the Legion like
this! 』

“Eh?”

Kinanah actually got angry for a completely different reason.

『Follow me, Caminijah. You young’uns are seriously

unbearable! I’m going to re-train you and Nothung!! Come here!!
』
Then changes began to occur suddenly.

Just like how Camio, who had been a black chicken, had been able to
become the Demon Bird General, Kinanah, who was a lizard,
instantly changed into a buff warrior who could walk on two legs.

A mineral stone which was definitely the Astral Gem was still buried
in his neck, and under the crimson light of the Demon
World’s red sky, the rainbow coloured pattern on his neck gave off a
red sparkle.

He took the horn demonic sword, and insect like rainbow coloured
wings grew out of his back. He floated in the air just like this.

『Why are you still standing there, Kaminijah! We’re going! 』

“Yeah.....then, Demon King-sama, everyone, let’s go.”

Camio followed behind Kinanah, who held his head high and proceed
with large strides and prompted the rest to follow them.

Unlike the beast form displayed at Yoyogi Park, the current Kinanah
was a demon with a highly trained body, just as Satan was stunned at
this, Emi tapped his back.

“As soon as we came to the Demon World, there has been significant
results huh. Let’s go.”

After she said this, she picked up Alas=Ramus and followed Camio
into the sky.

“Y, yeah……”

While feeling perplexed, Satan followed closely behind.

“Mama, is something wrong?”

“……Hm, just a bit, after all, I didn’t know anything in the end.”

Ancient Demon King Satan’s legacies. In other words, these were

thought crystals Sataniel left in the Demon World due to various
reasons.

Lailah did not understand these things at all, and she had been
unable to obtain any useful information from Gabriel.

270
During the period she wandered around the world because she did
not agree with Ignora’s methods, what had she done?

“But If Mama had not reached out to help, Maou might have died
a long time ago, right? So don’t worry. Mama is definitely not a
piece of trash who isn’t useful at all.”

“Acies, I know that you want to encourage me, but I don’t view
myself so lowly……forget it, it might just be like what you said.”

Any kind of grand vision would not be a match for one concrete
action taken.

Amongst the people who would be stopping Ignora, the two

strongest members had only appeared here because of Lailah.

“Thank you. Alright, let’s go.”

“Yeah! Ah, but Mama shouldn’t be too confident, okay? Suzuno

warned me beforehand that if Mama’s condition is very good, then I
need to pay more attention.” “……

So I’m that undependable.”

Should she reflect on her own living habits? Lailah flew towards the
red sky while feeling depressed.

The mountainous area on the Eastern side of the Boulder

Wastelands was the old base of the Iron Scorpions led by Alsiel.

Currently, barely any signs of life could be felt there, and after
passing over that area, they would reach Kinanah’s home.

“It’s over there, Demon King-sama.”

An underground ravine was seen in the direction Camio pointed at,

looking just like a crack on the flatlands.
As if he was responding to Camio’s words, Kinanah began to descend
to enter that crack.

“Once we enter, would we get attacked by his clanspeople or

something?”

“Probably not. Because that place……”

Camio answered in a soft voice,

“is already a ravine of death.”

Unlike in the sky, the bottom of the ravine did not have raging winds,
but wind did not flow well and the temperature was very low.

The sound produced by the winds through through the cracks in the
ground echoed through the ravine like moans, pressuring everyone’s
ears.

Even if it was a deep ravine, there were many horizontal caves which
resembled the nests of the huge demonic insects located all around
them, and the gusts of wind were as cold as those in winter.

“Alas=Ramus, are you cold? Do you want to merge with Mama?”

As they could not predict the weather in the Demon World, Emi,
Alas=Ramus and Acies were wearing thicker clothes, but after

Emi realised that this place was so cold that her breath had turned
white, she hugged Alas=Ramus tightly, and the latter responded by
hugging Emi tightly.

“Mama, it’s cold.”

“Yeah. I understand. Then stay with Mama.”

After Emi said this, she closed her eyes and merged with
Alas=Ramus.
Alas=Ramus seemed to relax after she escaped the cold and Emi,
who sensed this within her mind, breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hey……Maou, I’m a little cold too……”

“Yeah, alright. You do look like the type who would run around in a
place like this anyway.”

“Eh? Ah, I, I won’t do that!!”

Once Acies saw Alas=Ramus merge with Emi, she wanted to make it
easier for herself too. Satan then responded in a way which allowed
no room for debate and merged with Acies immediately.

If Acies ran into one of the horizontal caves when no one was
paying attention to explore the place because of an adventurous or
curious spirit, it woud be really troublesome too.

Perhaps these thoughts had been transmitted to Acies, she began to

protest greatly in Satan’s mind.

But even if she kept complaining at the beginning, perhaps

because she was afraid of the cold, Acies did not dispel the merger
after she finished complaining.

On the other hand, being the first one to land on the ground,
Kinanah started walking on the ravine floor without looking back at
all.

“He has such a burly appearance, but his actions are so rushed. This
ravine is filled with horizontal caves, it would be troublesome if we
got lost.”

“To him, I am Caminijah, and Demon King-sama is Sataniel. This place

used to be the land where he spent his life together with Caminijah
and Sataniel. So he probably thought that even if he did not stop and
wait, the rest of us would follow. Please don’t worry. I have been
here before, please come this way.”

As if Camio was reassuring Emi, he stepped forward determinedly.

After walking for a short while, they caught up to Kinanah.

Kinanah seemed to be wary of something and would occasionally

stop to look around and sniff the air, only walking when he was
satisfied. This process was repeated over and over again.

“Is he wary of angels, wary of the Legion Warriors?”

Camio shook his head to reject Lailah’s analysis and pointed towards
the huge rock in a corner.

“I am not sure as well, but other than the Legion, Kinanah should
also be wary of that.”

In the direction which Camio at pointed at, there was a pile of what
seemed like damaged machinery parts, looking very out of place in
this underground area.

“What is that?”

That seemed like things from very long ago, and the weathered
surfaces looked no different from the rocks around them, however,
the straight lines and angles made it obvious that these were man-
made.

The bottom of the ravine was dark, so Emi planned to go closer to

observe these mechanical ruins----

“Wait, Emi.”

But Satan suddenly pressed down on her shoulder, stopping her.

Rather than the fact that she was stopped, Emi was more surprised
by his serious expression, but when she turned around, she realised
that Lailah was also staring at those ruins with a similarly serious
expression.

“Hey, Camio, are those the Silver Arm Clan?”

“I’m afraid so.”

A new term appeared. Emi thought it was the name of a demon clan
in the Demon World----

“Polar Patrol Combat Cyborgs Seraphs……these are bipedal weapons

from Heaven.”

“Eh?!”

But Lailah mentioned a term which did not match her personality or
the Demon World, causing Emi to get a shock.

“Weapon……eh? You’re referring to combat robots?”

“That’s right. These are a very old model, but it’s impossible for me
to mistake them.”

“Emi, stay here.”

“Y, yeah……”

Satan’s gaze was serious, so Emi nodded without protest and

watched Satan cautiously approach that pile of ruined machinery.

He was in the Demon World and had regained his demon form, and
the target was a pile of rubble which had been completely destroyed
a long time ago, but Satan was still very cautious when he
approached.
“The Silver Arm Clan is considered the enemies of the Demon King
Army, even the Generals feel that they are very difficult to handle.”

Camio provided an explanation for Emi, who was feeling confused,

but having no knowledge about the history behind the

Demon King Army’s formation, she only understood that the robots
possessed great power.

“There’s no reaction at all. The communication feature seemed to

have failed as well. Camio, do you think Kinanah defeated these?”

“I don’t know if it was Kinanah or the other Renrebellbebelbe who

did this, but the possibility is high.”

Satan looked towards Kinanah who was some distance away as

Kinanah continued keeping his guard up, looking around him.

“That guy……how long has he been staying here……”

Ever since they landed at the bottom of the ravine, the group had
already walked for two hours.

On the way, Satan and the others saw the remnants from dozens of
bodies of the Silver Arm Clan.

In the past, there had been a lot of Silver Arm clan members
patrolling around the Satanasarc, located south of the

Malebranches’ Home. Satan did not know where they came from
and why they appeared there.

There might be many other abandoned bodies of the Silver Arm clan
is other places.

But they did not find any clues from Kinanah or these damaged Sliver
Arm clan members.
In the end, Kinanah stopped at one of the horizontal caves which did
not look any different from the rest.

If a difference had to pointed out, then it would be that on the

ground in front of the horizontal cave, there was a pit which seemed
to have been formed due to a powerful force.

The traces of the damage were new, Camio probably encounterd

Kamael here.

『Hm?! What is going on! Did the vanguards from the Legion
come here again!! 』

Kinanah appeared to have understood this change and rushed into

the horizontal cave frantically.

“Even though the pit was not formed by me or Kamael, but Kinanah
himself.”

After Camio said this with a wry smile, he followed Kinanah and
entered the horizontal cave.

Satan and the others followed closely behind, but only the entrance
was dark, the interior of the cave was unexpectedly bright.

“This is, an electric light?”

The glowing objects buried in the walls were not poor sources of
light such as fireflies or glowing moss, but mechanical sources

of light.

The ground under their feet quickly changed from the cave floor to a
tiled hard floor, and in the end, Satan and the others reached a
corridor which had a geometric design.

“This is……made of a material similar to that used in the Satanasarc?”

When Satan saw the material used for the walls and ceiling, he
widened his eyes in surprise.

“I had not gone that deeply inside the previous time……so there was
such a thing underground.”

The secret space hidden in Kinanah’s cave made it difficult for Satan
and Camio to hide their shock, but it seemed that Lailah also felt the
same.

“This is……there’s no mistaking it. This is our……these are facilities

from Heaven.”

Lailah touched the walls and it seemed like she had not recovered
from the shock.

“When Sataniel……parted ways with Heaven, he had taken part of

the mechanics from the moon’s surface, but I thought it had only
been the Satanasarc……I didn’t expect that there would be these
kind of facilities in this kind of place……I wonder if Gabriel knows
about this.”

Satan had guessed that the Satanasarc had been part of Heaven’s
facilities.

However, what had Sataniel hidden in this place which was located
so far away from the Satanasarc?

And he even left the Renrebellbebelbe clan here to guard it.

“I hope the answers lie on the other side of that door.”

There was a door about one hundred meters away, Satan, Camio and
Lailah had an impression of that design, and Kinanah was waiting
there.
No one knew who had been the first one to swallow on reflex and
approach Kinanah nervously.

『……』

When everyone was in front of the door, Kinanah turned around

without saying anything and looked into a lens buried into the wall.

The Satanasarc had similar equipment.

When Satan remembered this, the door had automatically opened

silently.

Because he had lived in Japan, Satan now knew that it was a machine
for retina scanning.

There was a small room which was shaped like a corridor on the
other side of the door and they could immediately see another door.

This did not look like a room at all, and no one knew why there was a
need to partition such a short length of space.

However, they did not feel any dangerous aura in that space, and
even if something happened, the members present should be able to
handle the situation, so the group decided to follow Kinanah, who
was authorised to open the doors and walked through the door in
front of them.

Kinanah stopped in front of the inside door. To avoid agitating him,

the group stopped walking and stayed where they were, then the
door behind Emi actually closed.

In the instant everyone focused and put up their guard so they could
respond to any situation, an expected change occurred.

“Uwah?”

“Chirp?!”
Satan and Camio screamed, and they were surrounded by a black
fog.

“Demon King?! Camio?!”

Emi almost summoned the holy sword, and Lailah had also assumed
a battle ready position, but the black fog instantly disappeared,
getting sucked into the celing and walls.

When the black fog disappeared----

“T, that was shocking……what was that just now?”

“C, chirp……that was surprising……”

Only Maou Sadao and a black chicken were left.

“Are you alright?!”

Emi rushed to Maou’s side.

Maou had fallen to the floor in fright, but other than the fact that his
Demon King mantle had loosened and exposed his shoulders, he
appeared to be unharmed.

Camio, who was at Emi’s feet, also shifted his round body
immediately to stand up.

“I’m alright, even though I got a shock, I seem to be alright……how

about the rest of you?”

“We are fine. Isn’t that right, Emilia?”

“Yeah, I’m alright……”

“Hm?! Hey, Acies, are you alright?!”

Acies, who had merged with Maou, did not seem to be alright.

280
Maou separated from Acies quickly and once Acies appeared, not
only was her face covered in cold sweat, she was even throwing up
violently.

“Acies?!”

Once Lailah realised that the situation was abnormal, she rushed
towards Acies.

“I……I want……to say that I’m fine……but it feels really

bad……bleagh……Maou, are you really alright……a lot of demonic
magic was sucked away at once just now, you know?”

“I, I’m not sure either. The demonic magic disappearing did give me a
fright, but I did not suffer any damage……”

“How is that possible……”

Acies frowned for unknown reasons and looked towards Maou, who
claimed that he was fine.

“Taking so much energy from the core of life at one go……that’s

impossible……Emi and Mama are really alright? Maou and

Camio are really unaffected……?”

“A, about that……”

“Other than losing demonic magic……though that is also a problem

chirp……”

Only Acies was obviously greated affected by this, causing everyone

to feel confused, but Emi suddenly remembered something and
instantly turned pale.

“Alas=Ramus?!”
She made Alas=Ramus appear as she called out for the latter, but the
bad feeling she had was confirmed.

When Alas=Ramus appeared, she was limp, as if she had fallen

unconscious.
283
“Alas=Ramus! Hold on!”

“Emilia, calm down. She’s still alive. Just unconscious.”

Emi shook Alas=Ramus frantically and Lailah went up quickly to stop

her.

“How can I calm down! Why did it suddenly become like

this……Alas=Ramus, what’s wrong with you, open your eyes!”

“Emilia, calm down!!”

“Ugh……!”

Her mother’s stern voice caused Emi to freeze instantly.

But her frozen body also lost its energy immediately.

“As a mother, how can you lose your composure like this. You need
to calm down and prepare for what might happen next.

These children are much stronger than all of us. Losing consciousness
is worrying, but she is fortunately still breathing. Alright, everyone,
look in front of you.”

The door in front of them had opened without any of them noticing.
Kinanah had disappeared and they could only see darkness.

It seemed like there was a rather large space in front of them.

“This corridor is probably something like the air purification rooms in

factories. They probably did not allow anyone to bring demonic
magic into the facility in front of us. Satan and Camio-san look fine,
but normal machines should not be capable to extracting a specific
life energy from living organisms. At least I have not seen such power
when I was in Heaven. The reason for Acies and Alas=Ramus being
like this should be in front of us.”

284
“……If something else happens to Alas=Ramus later on, I will
definitely not let that lizard off.”

Emi hugged Alas=Ramus tightly and merged with her, then she wiped
away the tears from the corner of her eyes and glared at the
darkiness in front of her.

“Acies, you should return.”

“Yeah……I’m going to sleep for a bit, call me when the situation is

really dangerous.”

Even if she had a pained expression on her face, Acies still spoke in a
lighthearted tone, and returned to Maou’s body.

“I will be the one walking in front from now on. Satan and Camio-san
can’t fight right now. Emilia, I’ll leave the back to you.”

“I understand.”

With Lailah in the lead, the four of them walked through the second
door warily.

Then, as if the lights had been waiting, they lit up suddenly, revealing
a spacious room with a high ceiling.

“Wha, this is……”

There was a lot of unfamiliar machinery in front of them, and even

Maou, who came into contact with human technology in

Japan, could not determine what these machinery were used for.

This place seemed to be some kind of factory or testing facility.

This high celing spacious area had many screens and control panels,
and those machines which looked like tables were probably used to
control the equipment here.
Other than that, there were four sealed chambers installed on
platforms which were probably used to store something.

And one of the sealed chambers was so huge that it could be

described as a building.

Perhaps this spacious room existed to contain this especially huge

sealed chamber.

“This place……does not match Kinanah’s image at all……”

This mass of mysterious huge machinery caused Emi to speak in a

surprised tone.

By just looking at the lizard which had serious dementia, it would be

difficult to associate him with this technology from Heaven which
even Lailah had not seen before.

Since Kinanah could pass the retina scan here, it meant that he
should have some connection to this place, but Emi could not
imagine Kinanah sitting in front of the control panels and controlling
these mysterious equipment.

Those tables with control panels on it were clearly designed to be

used by human shaped organisms.

Even if Kinanh was now capable of walking on two legs, his lizard tail
would obstruct him from sitting on the chairs.

“By the way, where did that Kinanah go……?”

“In fact, when we passed by that corridor, why could he keep his
original form? He’s a demon too, right?”

“I don’t know, but these strange machinery do not seem to be

operational. There might be an exit leading to other areas, we should
take a look around……ohh?!”
『Satan, why are you making so much noise. Did you forget how
to control these because you haven’t been here in a long time? 』

Just as Maou looked around him, the sealed chambers of various

sizes began to whirl, and Kinanah slowly climbed out from behind the
platform.

『Caminijah, how did you manage to make the Nothung so short, it

can’t be installed inside the sealed chamber like this.』

“Installed in the chamber?”

『Alright, let’s sharpen the sword.』

Kinanah ignored Camio’s confusion and walked towards the

control panel. He did not sit on the chair and used the tips of his
long sharp claws to nimbly tap on the control panel.

Maou felt that this movement looked more complicated han

Urushiahra was using the computer, but Kinanah did not hesitate
when he was using it.

“Oh……?!”

Then the horn demonic sword actually floated upwards.

“H, hey, Camio, this looks bad. That machine is definitely used to
contain Nothung right? Would it break if other things were put
inside?”

“I, I think so too, I’m not sure what to do right now chirp……”

“It’s starting to move already, you know?!”

When Lailah discovered that a wrong part was placed into the
mysterious machine, she said this, unable to hide her frantic feelings.
However, with a low thud, the horn demonic sword was placed
within the sealed chamber, and at the same time, an open chamber
rose up in the middle of the four sealed chambers.

However, that chamber, which was large enough to hold a human,

was empty----

『Alright, time to do this.』

“Eh?”

But Kinanah climbed into that sealed chamber nonchalantly.

After Kinanah climbed inside, the sealed chamber closed

automatically, clamping Kinanah’s neck in place.

『Alright, let’s start.』

The part holding Kinanah’s neck in place seemed to have a

mechanism which exposed the stone in Kininah’s neck, and after he
was securely in place, the interior of the sealed chamber was filled
with a black fog.

“Is that demonic magic?”

“Is that the demonic magic which was absorbed from our bodies just
now……n, no, this is!”

“Yeah, that’s right, that amount is really too huge……ugoh?!”

The concentrated demonic magic in the chamber greatly exceeded

the total amount of demonic magic taken from Demon King Satan
and Demon Bird General Camio.

“U, urgah……”
Even Emi, who had the highest tolerance amongst all the humans,
turned ashen and threw up behind the pair. The amount of demonic
magic gathered in the middle sealed chamber was that huge.

Even if that sealed chamber was made of a material which demonic

magic could not penetrate, just the ‘smell’ which seeped out was
enough to cause an effect on Hero Emilia.

“T, this is uncomfortable.”

Of course, as an angel, Lailah would not be spared as well, but even if

she was covering her mouth, she still stared at the sealed chamber
which Kinanah had crawled into.

“The demonic magic in the atmosphere……no, if that was the case,

the surrounding demonic magic would have entered a temporary
vaccum state……where is this coming from……”

“Ugh!”

Maou suddenly thought of something.

Something similar happened in the past.

Before he came to Japan, when he had not unified the Demon

World.

He had been captured by the Malebranches, and to defeat the Silver

Arm clan which ran rampant near the Satanasarc, he headed to the
barren south.

“Could it be……”

At that time, he had been underground.

Just as he remembered to this point.

“Ugoh?!”
“Demon King?!”

The chamber holding the horn demonic sword began to glow, and
Maou felt an excruciating pain at the same time, causing him to hold
his head and crouch down.

“It hurtsssssss!! W, what is going on, gahhhhhhh?!”

“Demon King-sama?!”

“S, Satan?! What’s wrong?!”

“Ugahuohhhhh?! My……it’s my horn arghhh?!”

“H, hey, Demon King! Pull yourself together!”

It was natural for Emi to panic.

Even if it was not a huge amount, blood began to spurt out from the
right side of Maou’s head.

“Kinanah! Stop the machine! Demon King……no, that machine is

affecting Satan negatively peep!”

Even if Camio sensed that the situation was not right and shouted
this, being in the sealed chamber, Kinanah did not hear this at all.

Not only that, the stone on Kinanah’s neck increased in brightness

and began to absorb the concentrated demonic magic, and following
this, Kinanah also gave off a blinding light inside the sealed chamber.

『Ohhhhhh……』

It was not known if it was due to Kinanah’s roar or the sounds of the
operating machinery, but Kinanah and the horn demonic sword
began to glow, and as the glow grew stronger, the pain felt by Maou
also increased.

“What are you showing me, chirp!!”

290
It was understandable that Camio would shout this.

From an objective point of view, Kinanah was the one being

forcefully interrogated, yet the one feeling pain was Maou.

“Argh! ……Gah!”

“Demon King! Hang in there!”

Emi took out a handkerchief and applied pressure on Maou’s head,

but the blood from the latter dyed the white cloth red.

“Emilia! Just continue applying pressure like that! Yeah!!”

Lailah, who had been a doctor in Heaven and currently a nurse in

Japan, placed her hand on Emi’s hand, and began to cast a healing
spell.

“Nn……ugh……ughh……”

But even then, the bleeding did not stop.

Just as everyone was at their wits end, the sealed chamber which
had the horn demonic sword emitted an even stronger light.

“Gah!”

“Demon King!!”

Due to this impact, Maou’s whole body jerked, and his eyes widened
instantaneously.

Emi quickly hugged Maou who collapsed at that moment, but he had
already lost consciousness.

“Demon King! Demon King, are you alright?! Pull yourself

together?!”

Emi kept shouting, but Maou did not wake up.

“The bleeding, stopped……but……”

No matter how they thought about it, the reason for this must be
due to the machine which held the horn demonic sword, and based
on Kinanah’s explanation, this was an effect tfrom sharpening the
sword, but that horn had already separated from

Maou’s body, so why did it affect Maou?

“Oh right, Acies! Is Acies alright?!”

“I don’t know. When I was healing him from outside, I could not feel
Acies’s existence. Unless Satan regains consciousness, we cannot
confirm Acies’s situation……”

“If it is the same situation as me and Acies, even if the Demon King is
unconscious, it should not affect Acies! Acies?! Can you hear me?
Can you come out?!”

Emi shouted with all her might, but Maou did not wake up, and Acies
did not respond.

『Let me see how the sharpening process went. 』

At this moment, Kinnah slowly climbed out of the sealed chamber,

showing no signs that he had noticed the commotion outside.

“(Kinanah! What did you do to that sword! What does sharpening

the sword refer to!)”

Camio shouted this, but as if Kinanah had not heard it at all, he

slowly walked towards the sealed chamber.

『Oh my, Caminijah, after not sharpening the sword for such a long
time, did you even forget about this? 』

This was the first time Emi knew that lizards also had a smiling
expression.
『I used the Astral Gem Satan buried inside my body to
condense the life energy so I can inject power into the sword.』

“(!!)”

“He said Astral Gem just now……?”

“If there was no mistake in my Idea Link……”

Emi and Lailah looked at each other, and Camio looked towards the
horn demonic sword, speechless.

Even if the sharpening had been completed, the appearance of the

horn demonic sword did not change at all.

Camio, who had changed into his chicken form, could only look up at
Kinanah from where he was at Kinanah’s feet, but as if

Kinanah was seeing Camio’s demon bird form instead, he let go of

that sword in the air.

“Chirp?!”

With a loud thunk, the sword fell right in front of Camio’s eyes and
nose.

Camio inspected the sword cautiously, but the demonic magic

within the horn demonic sword had already been sucked out n the
corridor earlier.

Perhaps it was due to the effect of the light within the sealed
chamber, no only did the scabbard change colour, the jewels on it
had all fallen.

“Ugh……what is……going on chirp……”

However, other than the fact that it was made from Satan’s horn, the
demonic sword looked just like a normal metal sword, yet it was
exuding an oppressive aura.

“Camio-san, is something wrong?”

“N, nothing, angel, can you help pick that demonic sword up? With
my current body, it’s simply……”

“Eh? Ah, that’s true, I understand. Fortunately, the machine did not
break it……and the stone on Kinanah’s neck was the Astral

Gem after all.”

Lailah did not suspect Camio at all, and she walked towards that
sword while being wary of Kinanah.

“However……from that scene just now, could it be……” “Yeah……

that’s right.”

Lailah and Emi looked at each other, their faces showing mixed
emotions.

It can already be confirmed that the stone on Kinanah’s neck was the
Astral Gem.

In addition, based on the sizes of the sealed chambers and the way
Kinanah treated Nothung, it could be deduced that this facility had a
strong connection to the four legacies.

If Kinanah was a ‘living legacy’ responsible for ‘sharpening’ the

legacies, then it was clear what the remaining chambers were meant
to contain.

The sealed chamber which held the horn demonic sword was
obviously used to hold the Nothung.
And the largest sealed chamber was probably used to contain
Adramelechnius’ Demonic Spear.

“……Eh?”

But Emi suddenly realised something strange.

Because this place had four sealed chambers originally, Emi and
Lailah thought that these were related to the four legacies, but if
Kinanah = Astral Gem was supposed to be held in the middle sealed
chamber, then there would be an extra chamber.

For the two remaining sealed chambers, one of them should be used
to hold the Ginkan no Mado.

The sealed chamber holding the Nothung, was located between

these two sealed chambers.

Emi had never seen the Ginkan no Mado, but no matter which one it
was put in, the other one would be empty.

“Could it be that we’re still missing something?”

“Emilia? What’s wrong?”

It appeared that Lailah had not noticed this, so she picked up the
horn demonic sword without hesitation.

『Nothung needs to be sharpened often. If it is not sharpened

properly, it would incapable of rendering the Legion warriors
powerless. 』

Lailah had picked up the sword, but as if Kinanah had not seen
Emi and Lailah since the beginning, he did not pay attention to
them at all.

『Alright, Satan, we can continue killing the Legion warriors like this.
』
Kinanah said this, as if he was encouraging Maou who was still
unconscious, Emi finally threw aside the questions she had
and glared at him.

『Oh.』

But Kinanah still ignored Emi.

He showed a sinister expression and with an agile movement, he

looked in a random direction, away from Emi, Lailah, Maou and
Camio.

“……Eh?”

“What?”

“What’s going on chirp……”

Emi, Lailah and Camio followed Kinanah’s gaze, looking in the same
direction.

At that place----

“What?”

“Ugh.”

“Ah.”

『A Legion warrior----!!!! 』

Just as Emi, Lailah and Camio let out air-headed sounds, the lizard
warrior, with a movement as swift as a clap of thunder, ran past the
trio.

“Kya!!”

"Uuuu?!”
“Chirppppppp?!”

A strong shockwave spread through the whole space, and the lighter
Camio was blown into the air.

Lailah barely managed to brace herself and Emi tried her best to
withstand it while hugging Maou tightly, but they were still unable to
move.

How long had that person been there?

When the group had noticed, a short and plump figure, one head
shorter than Lailah and Emi, was already standing at the entrance.

Once Kinanah noticed that figure, he raised his fists and rushed
towards it, but a golden light barrier had been set up between

Kinanah and the figure, and Kinanah’s fists cold not reach the figure.

“T, that guy is……!”

Emi had an impression of that appearance.

No, rather that the appearance, it was more like she had an
impression of those clothes.

She did not know the other party’s actual identity.

But Emi was sure that the other party was an enemy.

Black spherical helmet.

Extremely loose full body suit.

That had appeared in Ente Isla’s Eastern Continent, above the sky
of Afsahan’s royal capital Azure Sky Canopy, the astronaut who
sucked every existence who had holy magic into the sky.

“……”
『Hnghhhhhhh!!』

Even if he was blocked by the light barrier, Kinanah still unleased all
the power in his body, aiming to break that barrier with brute force.

“!”

It could not be confirmed as the astronaut’s face could not be seen,

but the astronaut seemed to have wavered for an instant.

The Astral Gem buried in Kinanah’s neck glowed, and at the same
time, his arm suddenly penetrated the light barrier.

Kinanah’s claw made contact with the astronaut’s helmet, and a low
thump was heard.

They had thought that the impact would break the helmet, but in the
end, the astronaut’s head was only pushed back slightly, and the
helmet was undamaged.

『How did you find this place!!』

The lizard swung his fists continuously, his body moving at a speed
which could not be followed with the naked eye, the astronaut could
not respond to that speed and could only be hit by the lizard’s fists.

Low thumps were heard, but the spacesuit was not damaged after
all.

“……!”

As Kinanah hesitated because his attacks were useless, the astronaut

did not let that chance go to waste and using a right hand which was
covered in thick gloves, the astronaut attacked Kinanah’s neck.

『 Ugh!! ……

Kahhhhh!!』“!”
Kinanah did not try to forcefully move the astronaut’s hand away, he
opened his mouth and shouted, shotting a demonic magic light beam
out from his throat.

He had used this move at Yoyogi Park earlier. The astronaut was hit
by that move directly and did not appear to be injured by it, but the
astronaut still backed up, putting a huge distance between them.

『Amazing.』

Kinanah did not continue attack, and mumbled this while staying
where he was. No, he was unable to continue attacking.

As if the power he displayed just now was all a lie, he knelt on the
ground.

On his neck, there were additional finger shaped dents at the area
around the gem.

As black fog flowed out from that place, Kinanah’s body began to
shrink.

『Caminijah! What are you doing! Pick up the Nothung! Chase

the Legion out! 』

Emi did not understand what Kinanah was saying, but as she picked
up the name ‘Caminijah’, she clicked her tongue.

Having lost his demonic magic, Camio could not even win against a
normal human.

“Chirpppp……”

And that shockwave just now seemed to have caused him to hit a
wall, so even if others called out to him, he could only groan
uselessly.
Emi sensed that their side was clearly at a disadvantage and decided
to summon the holy sword.

“Lailah, take care of the Demon King!”

“Eh! W, wait, Emilia, right now,

you’re……”

“I was asked to come along because of times like this, right! I’m
counting on you!”

“Emilia, no!! That person is……!!”

Lailah’s shouts could not stop her daughter.

“It’s obvious who she is!”

Emi jumped with a speed, greatly exceeding that of Kinanah’s

previous movements.

“It’s Ignora, isn’t it! If we defeat her here, we can end everything!!”

It could only be her.

Retrieving the angels Maou had defeated at Azure Sky Canopy; using
a strange technique on Alas=Ramus who had been merged with Emi
and Acies who had been merged with Maou; wearing a spacesuit
which was difficult to move in and strong enough to

fight with Kinanah who had chased Kamael away, Emi could not think
of any other existences who could do these things.

The mastermind who brought sadness to Emi’s, to everyone’s

important daughter, Alas=Ramus.

Heaven’s leader, Ignora.

“Take this!!”

300
With an obvious killing intent, and not caring that she was in front of
Kinanah, she transformed instantly and with the holy sword which
had been increased to its full power, she slashed towards the
astronaut’s helmet.

However.

“……!”

“What……!!”

As if the astronaut was blocking a child’s sword made out of

newspaper, the glove of the spacesuit caught the Better Half easily.

This kind of blocking method which ignored the resulting impact,

holy magic and all other factors caused Emi to land on the ground in
a shocked state.

“T, this can’t be……w, why……”

The holy sword did not budge.

No matter how much force Emi applied, the holy sword did not
move, and remained in the astronaut’s grip.

The astronaut did not seem to be using any force at all, yet Emi, who
was using her full power, could not put up any kind of resistance.

“Emilia! Get away! Keep the holy sword!!”

Lailah shouted.

“If, if I could do it, I would have done it already! T, this guy……! W,

what did you do!!”

“Emilia?!”

“The holy sword……from me, this can’t be, stop, Alas=Ramus!!”

As Emi screamed, she was blasted away.

At an unknown time, the golden light barrier which had blocked

Kinanah’s fists appeared in front of Emi who was in her Hero form
and blasted her away like an insect.

“Gah!!”

“Emilia!!”

Emi hit the ground after losing her power, her hair and eyes returned
to their normal colour and she lost consciousness at the same time.
Then----

“……”

Better Half was still in the astronaut’s hand.

Even if Better Half was no longer held by Emi, it did not disappear.

The astronaut lightly threw the holy sword into the air, grabbed onto
the hilt, then swung it as if it was the astronaut’s belonging.

“I, Ignora……are you Ignora……?”

Lailah called out that name fearfully.

Calling out for this comrade from the same homeland whom she had
respected greatly but went separate ways because they had
differences in their thinking.

However, the astronaut whom Lailah referred to as Ignora did not

respond.

The astronaut did not even look at Lailah.

“……”
The astronaut silently ran a finger over the ‘Yesod’ fragment
embedded in the holy sword’s hilt and caused an unbelievable
phenomenon to occur.

“Alas=Ramus!!”

Lailah’s voice sounded very close to a scream.

The holy sword disappeared, as if it had melted in the air.

And in the end, sleeping in the astronaut’s arms, was Alas=Ramus,

who had a very pained expression on her face.

“Stop! Ignora! That child is……!!”

Lailah was so frantic that she let go of Maou, raised the horn
demonic sword without pulling the sword out of the scabbard, and
rushed towards Ignora.

However, Lailah was not a warrior, and the astronaut did not even
treat her movements as an attack.

The astronaut did not even use the light barrier and looked at Lailah
from behind the helmet.

“……Ugh!!”

Just this action was enough for Lailah to stop.

Even if she was less than one meter away from that spacesuit.

Lailah was unable to stretch her hand out.

Her whole body began to sweat and her knees started to shake, and
just like this, she let go of the horn demonic sword.

“……I, Ignora……you……”

“Lailah.”
A voice which logically should not be heard was transmitted from the
other side of the helmet.

“Thank you, you were a huge help.”

“……Eh?”

“Then, goodbye.”

The glove held in front of Lailah emitted a strong golden light.

At this instant.

『It’s not over!』

Accompanied with a piercing battle cry, the astronaut’s wrist was

deflected upwards.

de

“Ugh!”

“Kyahh?!”

Kinanah picked up the horn demonic sword which Lailah dropped,

and as he pulled the sword out from the blade, he used the

movement to deflect the astronaut’s arm away.

The astronaut did not even treat the Better Half at its full power as a
threat but was actually deflected by the horn demonic sword which
contained no demonic magic.

After the energy which was meant to blast away Lailah’s head
missed, it hit the largest sealed chamber and pierced a hole in the
wall.

『Ugohhhgahhhh!!』
“Ugh!!”

For the first time, the astronaut moved to avoid Kinanah’s attack.

The astronaut had depended on the light barrier and the mysterious
spacesuit to block all the attacks so far, but now the astronaut was
running away, fearing a metal sword.

『I will not allow you to take away the children of the large tree!
Die, Legion!』

Without caring that his neck was still leaking demonic magic, Kinanah
nimbly avoided Alas=Ramus and continued to attack the astronaut.

Finally, the tip of the horn demonic sword made contact with the
helmet which did not even view the Better Half as a threat, and a
small golden hole was formed on the surface.

“...........Malkuth……?”

At this moment, Alas=Ramus, who was in the astronaut’s arms,

suddenly opened her eyes.

“!”

The astronaut was shaken for an instant.

Kinanah did not let that opening slide.

『Kreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!』

“Uwah!!”

As Kinanah emitted a strange noise, he slid out his slippery tongue

and grabbed Alas=Ramus away from the astronaut’s arms.

“Ugh!”
However, the astronaut recovered quickly and with a speed which
Lailah could not follow with her eyes, the astronaut closed in on
Kinanah’s tongue.

“Ugah!”

“Eeeeyahhh?”

Unlike its appearance, that tongue seemed to be very tough, the

golden energy which was shot from the astronaut’s hands, caused
the tongue to bleed in mid-air, and Alas=Ramus, who was at tangled
at the tip of the tongue was shaken violently.

“Auu!”

『Ugh!』

“Ahh!!”

Perhaps it was weakened because of the attack, Kinanah’s tongue let

go of Alas=Ramus.

The astronaut reached out, aiming to grab the young girl----

“Oooooaahhhhh!!”

But Lailah, Kinanah and the astronaut did not expect the following
development.

As the astronaut reached out towards Alas=Ramus, the bottom rim

of the helmet was viciously hit by a right knee belonging to

Acies=Ara, who had appeared out of nowhere.

“……!”

This attack at supersonic speed finaly caused to astronaut to lose

balance.
However, Acies’s fierce attacks did not end.

She rushed towards the right side of the astronaut, which was left
unprotected from losing balance, and let loose a whip like kick
towards that area. The astronaut, who only swayed at most when
faced with Kinanah’s and Emi’s attack, actually fell to the ground
from this attack.

“Wauu!”

Alas=Ramus, who happened to fall into Acies’s arms at this moment,

surveyed her surroundings in shock, then realised that her clothes
had turned sticky because of Kinanah’s saliva----

“Sticky……”

Causing her to say this sadly.

After Acies saw her older sister acting like this, she smiled slightly,
but she switched to a stern expression immediately and passed
Alas=Ramus to Lailah.

“……Mama, take care of Nee-san. You should be able to do that,

right?”

“A, Acies……you.”

Lailah asked this in a dazed manner, but Acies did not respond and in
an instant, moved in front of the astronaut, who was getting up from
the ground.

In response to the attack, the astronaut raised a palm towards Acies,

but Acies kicked away the astronaut’s hand once again.

Then Acies did not give any chance for the astronaut, who was
pathetically using a hand to push against the floor, any chance to get
up.
She raised one leg high and used the heel to hit the helmet with
great force, and the astronaut slumped onto the floor, as if the
performance of easily defeating Emi and Kinanah just now was all a
lie.

“Hey you, were you planning to do something bad to Nee-san just

now!! Huh?!”

Acies shouted in a brash tone which was different from her usual
personality.

And when she was doing to interrogation, as if she was torturing the
astronaut, she continued to kick the astronaut from different angles,
and every single time, the astronaut would roll across the floor
because of the huge impact.

“Say something! Else I’ll smash your head in!! Hey!”

As if Acies was picking up a tree branch, she picked up the astronaut

by the neck and held the astronaut up, and tightened her other hand
into a fist, continuously punching the astronaut’s body.

“……”

Lailah could not interfere at all and could only watch from the side.

She was not the astronaut’s match.

But for unknown reasons, Acies could single-handedly overwhelm

the astronaut.

The spacesuit did not tear or get damaged, but the impact seemed to
be capable of reaching the interior, and even if the astronaut
occasionally tried to defend against Acies’s fist, as the astronaut’s
neck was being grabbed, the astronaut could not resist at all.
Even if she wanted to stop it, Lailah did not think that Acies would
back off obediently, and even if Acies really did back off,

Lailah did not know what to do after that.

“What is wrong……with Acies?”

Alas=Ramus showed a frightened expression because of the drastic

change in her younger sister’s personality, but Acies did not stop.

Even Kinanah could not keep up with the sudden change in the
situation, and he froze on the spot while holding the horn demonic
sword.

“You guys! You guys!”

“A, Acies……”

Lailah’s weak voice did not reach the ears of Acies, who was
currently swinging her fists in anger.

“You guys……to us……”

“Acies……you, you can’t……”

“W, what’s wrong, Alas=Ramus……?”

Alas=Ramus was currently struggling in Lailah’s arms.

“If only all of you didn’t exist!!”

“Eh?”

『Uu!』

Lailah and Kinanah saw it.

It was just an instant, but as Acies=Ara swung her fists angrily, a red
glow enveloped her whole body.
And at this moment, the situation changed.

“Ugh!”

“!!”

The instant Acies emitted the red glow, the astronaut who had been
unable to resist so far was able to break free from Acies’s grip.

The astronaut ran towards the exit, but Acies recovered immediately
and chased after the astronaut.

When Acies turned around, Lailah discovered that unlike Hero

Emilia’s red irises, Acies’s eyes were emitting a muddy glow, and
even the glow emitted by the ‘Yesod’ fragment on her forehead had
turned muddy.

“W, wait, Aci……”

『This is bad! If this goes

on!』Kinanah acted first.

He looked like he was trying to stop Acies.

The astronaut had already escaped towards the corridor which led
outside, and Acies made a huge leap to catch up to the astronaut----

“Argh?!”

However, once she left the space where the sealed chambers were
located, she screamed and collapsed on the ground.

When the escaping astronaut discovered this, the astronaut stopped

and turned around to watch----

“Stop……right there……”

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Even if the red glow was fading, Acies was still glaring at the
astronaut with a vicious killing intent, causing the latter to
immediately turn around and leave once again.

“Acies!”

Alas=Ramus freed herself from Lailah’s grasp and rushed towards

Acies, and Lailah who chased after her a short while later decided to
stand in front of the corridor just in case the astronaut decided to
return, protecting Alas=Ramus and Acies who was lying on the
ground with her back.

“Acies, are you alright? What’s wrong?!”

“Acies! Hold on!”

“Damn……it……I was so close…........Nee-san.”

“What? Acies! What is it?!”

“……Your body……is sticky……that’s gross……”

“Uu?”

“Fu…........”

“Acies?!”

Acies closed her eyes after saying this, not moving at all, Lailah
crouched down frantically to check, but after hearing a deep snore
from Acies, she lost all the energy in her body in an instant.

Then Lailah focused her attention towards the entrance, but there
were no signs of the astronaut returning, and after she decided to
leave the ravine, forget about the astronaut, she did not even see
any living things moving around.

“Snorreeeeee”
“Acies! Wake up! Are you alright? Wake up!”

『……』

When Lailah returned to the corridor, just like before, Acies was still
snoring on the hard floor, Alas=Ramus kept slapping Acies’s cheeks
lightly to try and wake her up, and Kinanah who was bleeding at the
mouth and having black fog seeping out from his neck, was frozen on
the spot in a daze.

Maou, Emi and Camio were still unconscious, and it looked like they
would not wake up anytime soon.

“Seriously……what is going on……”

Even if she judged that the danger had already passed, Lailah was
still greatly troubled.
※
“What did you say?!”

At the base of the Demon Fortress at the Central Continent, after

Suzuno received an unbelievable report from Emerada, she instantly
lost all the colour in her face.

“Is this……confirmed information?!”

Emerada, who gave the report, did not look like she had that much
breathing room, and her talking speed had increased a lot.

“That is correct~~this happened not long after Miss Bell returned to

Japan earlier~~. The report of passing of Lord Robertio, the leader of
the Six Archbishops~~have caused great confusion not only at the
Church stronghold Saint Ignord, but also as the Holy

Grounds and the churches across the land~~”

“Lord Robertio……”

The highest decision making body in the Theocracy---the Six

Archbishops, stood at the top of all the Theocracy believers in the
world.

The six people had equal authority, and in the past, Olba Meyers had
been one of them.

However, Archbishop Robertio Iguno Valentina, who had been an

Archbishop for the longest time and had a hale and hearty body
despite being of old age, something he was proud of, actually had
more authority compared to the other Archbishops.

Robertio could not stand at the frontlines and fight with the Demon
King Army like Olba did, but he did not look like a person who would
suddenly pass away.

Possibilities such as assassination, internal conflict and even Olba

escaping from jail after being captured by Saint Aire flashed through
Suzuno’s mind, but all of these were overthrown by what Emerada
said next.

“It seems that Lord Robertio had a 『Miracle Departure』~~. As if

they had discussed this beforehand, the other four archbishops gave
similar testimonies~~”

“A miracle? The other four Archbishops all said this?”

Robertio, the leader of the Six Archbishops, had passed away, and
Olba, who could exert influence on the entire world via the

External Relations Department, had been arrested. In this situation,

the other four Archbishops would normally be having a battle of
influence to inherit their positions.
Not only that, normally when an Archbishop passed away, even if it
was obviously due to natural causes or sickness, before announcing
the death, a long time would be spent to decide on the
announcement method, the timing and the person who would
succeed that position.

Shortly after the passing, the remaining four people all said it was a
‘miracle’, this would something which logically should not happen.

“W, what kind of ‘miracle’ was it? In the end, an Archbishop had
died, you know? Even that Lord Servantes said so?”

Servantes Reberiz was the youngest Archbishop in history, and

because he was still young, he craved power greatly. In fact, he
ranked third place in the amount of influence he had, after Robertio
and Olba.

Currently, his two obstacles had disappeared, to Servantes, this was

a great opportunity to finally become the top Archbishop, so why
was he synchronising with the other three Archbishops?

“T, that’s because~~”

With a pale complexion, Emerada revealed a shocking fact.

“Those four people said that had the same dream~~they dreamt that
Robertio had been summoned by Heaven~~”

“Dream? Actually claiming that they had a holy dream at this time,
what are they planning?”

There was nothing more troublesome than a ‘holy dream’ dreamt by

the King or clerics.

Because they would normally decide on their own that the contents
of the dream were an order from God, and use it as an excuse to
perform crazy, barbaric acts.
However, the situation completely exceeded Suzuno’s imagination.

Emerada’s lips thinned, and she spoke clearly.

“In their dream, an 『angel』came for Lord Robertio, and it seemed

that a 『world crisis』was declared at that time.

“……Ugh!”

However, even if the four great priests had such great desire for
power that they would drain it from the good and evil of the human
world until they reach the abyss and would drink further until the
very last dregs have dried up, they were still clerics, believers of the
Theocracy.

Suzuno’s complexion turned as white as paper.

Because she thought of the worst script which completely surpassed

all their predictions.

“Don’t tell me……could it be!!”

The Theocracy had a massive number of believers in Ente Isla, and in

most situations, the ‘Six Archbishops’ were revered greater than the
king of that country, the true nobility, and what they said was so
influential that it was treated as a ‘Prophecy from

God’.

To prevent public opinion from overly favouring one side or public

resistance, the Archbishops would intentionally pretend that they
disagreed with each other in the political field.

Therefore, if these ‘Prophets’ assert the same thing, to the ordinary

citizen, that would be the truth.
“The angel who appeared in their dream said this. The evil which
threw the world into turmoil would gather at the center of the
world. Humans, unite once more and defeat this evil.”

“How can this be……even, even though it has been this smooth-
sailing so far.”

Suzuno could not remain calm any longer, and her legs began to
shake.

“The ‘enemy’ was probably aiming for this moment. To disrupt our
spirits and plans, they chose the best time for them to make the
move which would cause us the most damage with the least effort.

“How about General Lumark……”

“She needs to return to our country to handle this situation and is

already on the way back. The Theocracy owns me because of the
strange trial they forced onto me earlier, I was able to plant my own
people at the church at the royal capital, and obtained this
information before the other countries, but we still would not have
enough time to decide on a counter strategy before news of this
incident spreads across the world.”

They should have considered this possibility at the start.

Why did their side stupidly think that the enemy would face them
directly?

The enemy was the God of this world.

To them, whether it was obstructing the plans of Suzuno and the

others, or causing chaos in the human world, these were easy things
to do.

An angel from Heaven assassinated Robertio.

Then controlled the dreams of the four Archbishops and spurred
them on by using the identity of an angel.

This guaranteed that they would be able to destroy the plans of

Suzuno and the others while ensuring their own safetly.

If the four Archbishops united and command the Theocracy, there

would be no way to stop them.

“Do you think that Saint Aire and the various countries from the
Western Continent would comply to the Theocracy’s actions?”

“There is no way to predict the situation with normal methods

anymore. It would depend on Miss Lumark responds, but Rotten

Pepin’s faction has close ties with the Theocracy and is still spreading
their evil stink like deeply rooted mold. So we cannot be too
optimistic about this. And even if Saint Aire does not comply
immediately----”

Suzuno, who was highly ranked within the church, would definitely
know this, but Emerada still had to emphasise this.

“The total military strength of the Saint Ignord Sanctuary, the various
holy grounds and the ‘Church Knight Troops’ in the various countries
around the world would already be enough to be on par with the
Haikin Knights.”

“Damn……it……!!”

While shaking, Suzuno clenched her fists with enough force to make
her hands bleed.

“The Demon King and Emilia are not back yet?! Hurry……come back
quickly! If this goes on……”
Suzuno’s pained cry and her inner voice which worried for the future
of the world did not reach anywhere in the world.

“If this goes on, more needless blood will be spilled!”

--- To be continued ---

 Author, Afterword – AND YOU --

I really made everyone wait for a long time. I am aware of this.

It has been more than eleven months since 『Hataraku Maou-sama!

16』. Based on feeling, the progress of this story has stopped for one
year.

Volume 0-II, which was sandwiched in the middle, is a necessary

story in the worldview for Maou-sama, but a story about the past is
still a story about the past.

So what have I been doing during those eleven months? I think a lot
of people know about it already, but other than the two new series
『Diego no Kyojin』and 『Yuusha no Segare』being released during
this period, I also wrote a derivative series known as 『 Hataraku
Maou-sama! High School N!』.

Because of that, I received passionate support from various places,

saying that ‘You should spend all your time on writing the new
release for Maou-sama’, ‘You’re banned from eating snacks until you
release a new volume for Maou-sama’, ‘Hey,

Wagahara, why are you writing a new series out of nowhere.’

Maou-sama has entered its sixth year after all, and the title of this
volume has progressed till ‘17’.

When I first debuted, I have thought that ‘if this series can continue
on and on, I want to write this kind of story and that kind of
incident’, but when I have written until volume 16, this ‘dream
storage’ has finally run dry.

From now on, not just for Maou-sama, to be able to continue as an

author from now on and create stories with a fresh feeling,
I need to regain my mode of thinking of creating stories from scratch.

I might have said this, but this is still a personal reason after all, so I
am really sorry for making everyone wait for so long.

It cannot be considered a compensation, but after this volume is

released in June 2017, the ‘Hataraku Maou-sama!’ Drama CD would
be released!

Of course, the voice actors are the same as the anime version.

And a certain character who did not appear in the anime adaptation
would make an appearance! She would definitely appear!

Even if I was the one who made her appear!

Please look forward to it!

Because the series has existed for a long time, everyone waited for a
long time, but because this series has a long lifespan, the things I can
present to everyone has increased.

The story this volume is about a group of people who have been with
each other for a long time, making them capable of thinking about
daily matters as well as the future without being controlled by daily
events and not forgetting to express their gratitude to the people
around them.

I hope I can meet everyone again in the next volume or through my

other series.

See you!

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Translations PDF by: SaltyCat
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