THE DEVIL AND THE HERO STAND STRONG IN SASAZUKA 5 page

Both Emi and Chiho required some time before they fully understood what the apparently straightforward reply meant.

Emi would naturally fall into that group, having traveled to Japan to slay the Devil King. She just happened to be out of range at the time the communication made its way to Japan.

But Chiho?

?Wha?! That?I, uh??

Her face grew redder with every moment as she stammered. Of course she was thinking about him. All day, to boot.

She didn?t need to explain why. Everyone understood that much. The problem was that someone revealed that before she could. That, and Maou was in the room.

?Oh, myyyy! Quite the player, aren?t you, Devil King??

Emeralda?s choosing to take the innuendo to the next level made the emotion-o-meter attached to Chiho?s brain go off the charts, blinking and blowing off steam.

?Ahh??

With a groan, Chiho fainted in embarrassment, falling to the ground in a neat row alongside Ashiya and Lucifer.

??Okay! So! What are you guys gonna do now??

Maou, unable to decide how to react, turned toward the Hero?s party, each one reacting in wildly divergent ways. If he let his true colors come to the surface as well, that would truly be an embarrassment for all time.

?Don?t ask me. We just came ?cause we thought Olba and Lucifer were gonna do somethin? to Emilia. We weren?t countin? on the Devil King to be here, too.?

?Our general idea was to take Emilia back home and help Ente Isla realize who should reeeeally be leading the recovery effort? but??

Albert and Emeralda exchanged glances.

??but the Church?s probably got us all on their wanted list by now.?

?Indeed, indeed.?

?So, what, you?re screwed anyway??

?No, not necessarily. Remember, we still got part of the realm of heaven on our side.?

?Very much so! And this let us travel through the Gate without expending any hooooly power.? Emeralda took a feather pen out of her robe.

Maou?s eyes widened a stretch. ?Huh. Look at that. That?s the pen angels use when drawing rainbow bridges to other worlds, isn?t it??

?H-hey! You can?t just show that to the Devil King!?

Maou shook his head at Emi?s frantic warning. ?Demon-realmers can?t use it. Quit worrying so much. That?s a gadget from heaven; only angels and people recognized by the angels can wield it.?

?Oh? But, wait, why do you even know about that??

?I heard about it a while ago. So whose feather did you use for that pen? No, wait, let me guess. Laila, right??

?Ooh, well done.?

?Don?t expect any priiiizes!?

Albert and Emeralda freely copped to it.

?Hah! That tomboy get away with something like that again??

Maou smiled to himself as he recalled the distant past.

?She?s walkin? on some danged thin ice up in heaven, I?d guess. Not that I know the details.?

?But honestly, who wouldn?t want to take action if they knew their daughter was in daaaanger??

Emi was the only one to blink at Emeralda?s words.

?Their?daughter??

?Oh? Wait, you didn?t know, Emilia??

?Yeah, she told us she was your mom.?

Emi?s mind went blank in an instant.

?I? Wow. For real??

?That?s how you react, Emi??

Emi?s eyes were still unfocused, not quite able to take in the reality yet.

?Well, anyway, this?s all yours now. Any way you wanna use it, it?s up to you.?

The feather pen loomed large, its feather a pure shade of white. A dim light seemed to encircle it, a smaller dot of luminescence centered upon its tip. It emitted an odd warmth when held in the hand, the same feeling Emi experienced in Rika?s shower.

Her father had said she would learn of her mother someday. That was repeated to her countless times during her Church Guard days. She knew she was half angel, and if her father was human, the conclusion to make was obivous. But she never expected to not only learn the truth like this, but even grasp a physical piece of her so quickly.

?Oh, yeah, I got a message from her, too.?

?From my mother???

Emi?s heart skipped a beat. The blood collected around her face.

?She said ?Your father was a good man.??

Both Emi and Maou rolled their eyes.

?She?she didn?t have to tell me that now??

?That?s what you tell your daughter??

?So there you have it. The message, and the feather pen. So??

Sitting back down, Albert confronted Emi.

?When are you going back??

??What??

?I ain?t askin? for today or anythin?. I imagine you got assorted things to settle over here. But if you stick around here too long, the Church?s gonna have their say over the whole bit. Sooner you can get home, the better, I?d reckon.?

Emi found herself unable to respond.

?I??

?You knoooow, I?m not sure this is a conversation we should have in the Devil?s Castle??

Realizing that her mind was currently a whirlpool of extraneous thoughts, Emi turned toward Maou, unable to calm herself.

?When?when?re you going back??

?Uh??

Maou blew his nose, tossing the used tissue at the wastebasket. He missed.

?What?re you talking about? I?m not going anywhere.?

This made the eyes of all three members of the room who remained conscious grow as big as saucers.

??Huh??

?Like, even if I did, I can?t now.?

?????

Noticing the enormous question marks perched atop the heads of everyone else, Maou chuckled to himself.

?How much magic power did you think it took to bring that disaster area back to how it was before? You knew I built the whole Devil?s Castle on Ente Isla by myself, right??

Emi, Emeralda, and Albert gaped at the wide arc of the Shuto Expressway above them. The Koshu-Kaido road and Sasazuka rail station were completely back to normal, the lack of traffic whizzing to and fro the only thing missing. No battle damage remained on any nearby building.

Dozens upon dozens of emergency vehicles were stopped, but the paramedics and police officers themselves seemed to have no idea why they were deployed to the area.

There were a few civilians here and there, no doubt caught up in the previous fight, but there were no deaths, no injuries?neither in the area beneath the formerly collapsed rail bridge, nor within the buildings blown apart by errant attacks.

In other words, everything was as it was, before the battle. The only difference were the people nearby with no memory of the past several hours, as if someone had anesthetized them without warning.

?Uh? This what I think it is, Emilia??

?Probably.?

?Is this man reeeeally the Devil King??

?He should be.?

The shopping mall that faced Sasazuka station was already returning to its typical hustle and bustle. All of the nearby pedestrians had quizzical looks on their faces, as if using their tongues to coax an obstinate bit of food out from between their teeth.

?So if we wanted to, we coulda???

?Could you have done it??

Albert responded with silence.

?When someone?s known for being evil all the time, you know? When he starts doing good things, it?s like the slate?s totally wiped clean.?

?Yes??

?So I figured there was no way those guys would attack me.?

?Yes??

?Whadaya think? I had it all worked out, huh??

?So, can we ever get back??

?Well, off to work! I?ll still be on time if I leave now.?

?Your Demonic Highness??

?Oh, yeah. Tie up Lucifer for me, could you? I don?t want him doing anything weird.?

The fallen angel was still unconscious, lacking the strength to do much of anything for a while. Ashiya was awake, to his credit, but failed to muster enough power to stop Maou.

??Hey! Chiiiii? Chi, wake up! C?mon, you got a shift today!?

Chiho had steadfastly refused to leave with Emi (or, to be more exact, with Albert). She squirmed, facedown, on the tatami floor.

?Nnngh? Albert, you?re such an idiot??

Maou sighed, his face troubled to the core.

?Ugh? This is what you get when you mess around with Heroes.?

Sales for the Hatagaya MgRonald restaurant were beyond awful that day.

And for today, at least, it was pretty clear who was at fault.

The local streets were empty. Maou had wiped every last bit of damage clean and used wide-area hypnosis to convince everyone that nothing had happened, but deep in their hearts, everyone still held the nagging impression that something ominous had just happened nearby.

Chiho was in a bad mood all day, never even trying to approach Maou. Figuring this was due to the battle with Lucifer and the misunderstanding between her and Emi before that, he finally decided to speak up.

?Hey. Chi??

??Yes??

The voice was frigid. She didn?t appear to be scared of sharing a fast-food workplace with the Devil King, but if that wasn?t the case, Maou couldn?t figure out what was riling her so much. Is it because I got her involved in all of this? At any rate, if this keeps up, it?ll start to interfere with work. Maou pressed onward.

?You know, with my power, I could erase all the bad memories? you?uh, have.?

He realized midway this statement would come back to bite him. He could tell because, the moment she heard it, Chiho?s eyes welled up to the point where she appeared ready to bawl at any minute. She glared straight up at Maou as he stumbled his way to the end of the sentence.

?No thanks.?

?Huh??

?You?re so stupid, Maou!?

?Huuuuhh??

This response was completely unanticipated. Chiho turned her back to him, not saying another word until ten in the evening.

?Thanks. See you next shift.?

Then she left, without a trace of hesitation.

Sadly for Sadao Maou, he lacked even a shred of the Devil King Satan?s overwhelming sense of presence. The day?s work ended with him painfully failing at the task of understanding a teenage girl?s heart.

Crestfallen, he mounted his mighty steed Dullahan and set off for home, only to find Emi standing at the restaurant intersection where it all began. They nodded at each other, as if the meeting was arranged beforehand, and exchanged glances as they politely kept their distance.

??Hey.?

?Oh, that?s how you greet your mortal enemy?? Why?re you acting so downtrodden??

Emi, in street clothes, held her hands behind her back for some reason. Carrying something, no doubt.

?I?m not. It?s nothing. Why?re you out so late? If they cut the train schedule short tonight, you?re not sleeping at my place.?

?Then I?ll take a taxi home, okay? I?ve got my wallet back.?

?Man, look at Miss Moneybags here. You know the fares go up 30 percent for late-night, right??

The empty conversation not going much of anywhere, Maou dismounted from Dullahan. There was nothing disquieting or potentially lethal about this meeting, but he always defaulted to keeping his trusty steed between the two of them.

?So, what? You here to thank me, or???

He meant it as a joke, but Emi?s response was beyond what he expected.

?You didn?t do anything bad to Chiho, did you??

Maou paused, thrown off balance, but then heaved a complex sigh.

?I asked if I could erase her memories from today and yesterday. She called me stupid.?

??Ugh.?

Maou wholly overlooked the meaning behind Emi?s grunt.

?Was that bad or something, you think? She hasn?t said a word to me since.? He drooped his shoulders, already disappointed in himself.

Emi figured Maou must have known how Chiho felt, and yet he?d tromped right into the no-man?s-land of her heart and said it. It was a crass, crass move, one that exasperated her. But nothing required her to give romantic advice, so she moved on to the main topic at hand.

?Look, do you want to go back at all??

??Didn?t you already ask me that? Why?re you asking again? I?d be more than happy to go back.?

?I see. Well, for now, at least, I can go back anytime I want to.?

?Hmm??

Emi?s voice was bright, almost overtly boastful.

?I don?t have to go on a wild-goose chase in search of holy power to control the Gate with, either.?

?Hey, come on??

?I can just keep going with my job and pop on back home whenever I feel like it?but??

Emi?s face soured as she came to the but.

??but I?m still worried. As long as the Devil King is alive, I still need to step up, to be the Hero for everyone. And as long as you?re staying here, I?m duty-bound to keep pursuing you.?

?Yeah, well, you can feel free to drop that anytime you want. I won?t complain.?

?You might try to plot something with Lucifer and Alciel again. So unless you give up on Ente Isla or I defeat you first, I can?t go back.?

??So you?re staying here? Even though you?re totally free to go??

She was obfuscating the point, but to sum up, Emi was staying in Japan for as long as Maou was. Emi took her eyes a short distance away from Maou?s and continued, this time oddly apologetic. ?I don?t really care what the archbishops and so on think about me over there, and it?d be kind of mean to just disappear from my friends? lives over here.?

?Do your war mates accept that??

?They understand. How I can?t just let the Devil King roam free. So Albert and Emeralda are going to support me from the other side. They?ll send me a way to replenish my holy force so I can keep it charged over here.?

??Roam free?? What am I, a lion from the zoo??

?You are a monster.?

?Yeah, uh?yeah.?

Emi had him there.

?So, what, then? I?m pretty much totally out of magic force. You gonna take me on right now??

Taking Emi?s words at face value, if she took Maou?s life right now, she could immediately return to Ente Isla with no regrets whatsoever. The muscles in his body tensed.

It was a golden opportunity. One that Emi laughed off.

?How many times do I have to say it? I am a Hero. Once I get the chance to pulverize you, fair and square, at your full power, I?m taking it.?

She smiled like a beam of sunlight, just as she did that rainy afternoon they first encountered each other in Japan. It was enough to take Maou aback. He reacted curtly, not expecting her to ever show that smile to him again.

?So what did you ambush me here for again? How does telling me that help you at all??

Emi chewed over this for a moment, her face suddenly troubled once more.

?Well?um. You know. That was a freebie, all right? A freebie. You just got vital intel on your enemy for free. I don?t wanna hear you complaining about it.?

The words came out haltingly. Maou couldn?t make heads or tails of it.

?Uh, sure, but if that was a freebie, what?s the real reason you?re here for??

?Mngh??

Emi tried her hardest to say something. In Maou?s mind, she overlapped neatly with Chiho in front of the Shinjuku Alita big-screen display, asking him to hold hands.

But there was no way Emi would ever be so friendly with him. For the first time in the conversation, she brought her hands to the forefront. They gripped a long, sticklike object, and now, quite suddenly, she thrust it toward Maou.

Maou edged back, fearing another kitchen knife and/or holy sword.

But then, realizing what the object was, he tilted his head, puzzled.

It was the handle of an umbrella.

Through her pained expression and bright-red cheeks, Emi had pointed the handle of a brand-new men?s umbrella toward him. It was wrapped in protective paper from a high-end department store, one even Maou knew the name of, and the logo of a famous menswear brand was stamped on the handle.

?An?umbrella? Wha??

?I?you know, I threw out the one I borrowed from you, right? I thought that was?kind of mean of me, so??

She was right. The plastic umbrella he lent to Emi before realizing she was the Hero Emilia was tossed away once she realized he was Satan, the Devil King. So she was?repaying him?

?Now let me just say one thing!?

Emi glared at Maou, still debating with himself over what to do.

?All I?m doing is repaying your favor! Borrowing an umbrella from you is a deep, deep wound to my personal virtue and honor! One that will never heal in thousands of years! But letting any favor go undone would be an even greater blemish upon my reputation! That?s it!?

She jabbed the edge of Maou?s nose several times with the handle end of the umbrella as she half-shouted her diatribe.

?So just take it! This thing?s getting heavy!?

?Uh?sure.?

He took the handle, and Emi dropped her end, all but throwing it at him. It was a firm, weighted wooden grip, one like nothing Maou ever touched. The fabric was thick and shiny, and the ribs felt reinforced and durable beneath it. Its simple charcoal-gray color was a decent match for any outfit, and it was large enough to comfortably protect a couple when open.

?Hey, isn?t this expensive??

?You are such a thick Devil King. Is that all you can think of? Five thousand yen or so isn?t something someone your age should be sweating about!?

Maou was shocked into silence. The price was completely beyond comprehension for him, yet Emi just tossed it out like yesterday?s trash.

?F-five??! You?you spent five thousand on some stupid umbrella?! I mean, I just gave you this old thing I found hanging off a mailbox!?

?I don?t care! Shut up! I just couldn?t stand seeing my eternal nemesis going around with some half-broken piece of crap all day! If you call yourself Devil King, you could at least try to act the part a little!?

?Uh?yeah. Good point. But?still, five thousand, huh? Wow. Funny to think this is even in the same category as the junk I was using. Mind if I take off the wrapping??

?I gave it to you. Do whatever you want!?

Emi no longer even looked at Maou. Her back was turned, brows furrowed as she crossed her arms disgustedly.

Carefully removing the tape, Maou neatly folded up the wrapping paper and placed it in his pocket before opening his new umbrella.

?Whoa! It?s huge! Looks really sturdy, too! Now this is what I call an umbrella!?

Maou?s excitement was sincere as he looked on in wonderment. Emi, catching this from the corner of her eye for just a moment, raised the edges of her lips, her look one of ever-so-slight satisfaction.

??Well, that?s all I needed to do.?

With that, Emi turned away from Maou. He called back to her.

?Oh? Well, thanks! Sorry for the trouble.?

For some strange reason, the expression of thanks that escaped the Devil King?s lips planted themselves deep into Emi?s heart. They made her turn back around, just one more time.

?I almost forgot.?

?Hmm? Forgot what??

No one will likely ever know what lay behind the smile that crossed her lips.

?Try to patch things up with Chiho, all right??

That was the last thing he was expecting from her. His eyes lit up in surprise, leaving him unable to answer. Apparently satisfied by this display, Emi smiled, then turned around once more.

?See you later.?

Then the Hero and Devil King turned their backs to each other, both of them heading for home.

?Oh, good evening, Your Demonic Highness! I?ve prepared some egg pancakes for dinner.?

?You could at least call it an omelet. I don?t care if you lie to me.?

Ashiya, his strength (if nothing else) recovered, was waiting for him at the apartment, eyebrows twitched upward at the sight of the new umbrella in his hand. Maou preempted his question.

?It?s a gift, okay? A gift! I didn?t use any money!?

?A gift? My liege, you have a benefactor willing to give you such a fancy umbrella?

?If you?re being sarcastic, Ashiya, then zip it! It?s one of those? you know, ?what goes around comes around? things, right??

Maou propped the umbrella against the wall on the front foyer. This wasn?t some cheap umbrella he could toss around with abandon. He?d need to buy an umbrella stand soon, he thought unconsciously.

Suddenly Maou looked upward, feeling sullen eyes upon him. It was Lucifer, in the form of a typical short, long-haired Japanese man, kneeling in the corner and gnawing on some fried eggs.

Their eyes met, but he didn?t say a word. Maou was nonplussed.

?You got any place to go, or???

??If I did, I wouldn?t be eating fried eggs in this dump, would I??

?Probably not. Come to think of it, you?re a wanted man in Japan, aren?t you??

He had yet to hear anything about Olba, but if he were ever arrested for armed robbery, the archbishop would no doubt be ready to spill the beans about his accomplice Lucifer.

It was doubtful that the Tokyo police would accept the story at face value, but either way, Lucifer was in a dangerous spot.

?Hey, let me ask you something. How did you find your way into Emi?s workplace? Like, into her phone line??

??What??

Lucifer blinked in puzzlement.

??Cause depending on how you did it, we might be able to use that for something. You help me get my power back, I?ll help you in return. How ?bout it??

Soon, the not-so-normal routine of Maou?s daily life in Sasazuka, part of the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan, returned.

The morning after Maou and Ashiya?s battle, they visited the home of Miki Shiba, their landlord. They felt the need to get to the bottom of this woman, one who had to know the truth about both of them; a landlord who, in multiple meanings of the term, seemed superhuman.

If she had her pulse on everything that happened to them, there was an extremely good chance she was the mystery texter who sent that earthquake warning alongside Chiho?s.

They were fully prepared for a heart-to-heart chat as they gingerly pushed the call button, but no matter how much they tried, the landlord never answered. After a while, Ashiya noticed a slip of paper tacked to the gate.

From: Mikitty

To: Villa Rosa Sasazuka residents

Due to personal business, I will be based overseas for an extended period of time. Please contact the property management company below with any issues.

That wasn?t what made Maou and Ashiya wince. What did was the crimson-red kiss mark she had closed the note with.

If she went overseas, she likely wouldn?t be back for a while. For a moment, they wondered if she?d be held up at the security line. Her body and looks, after all, were patently lethal weapons.

Maou was on the afternoon swing shift that day as well. Things were still a touch awkward between him and Chiho when she reported in that evening, but by and large, she was back to her usual self.

And once he wrapped up the cleaning and laundry around the apartment, Ashiya was off on a grand tour of the museum, then the supermarket.

?Mornin?, Emi! Hope nothing bad happens today, huh??

From the moment Emi reported to work, Rika was joking with her. Emi looked straight at her.

?Listen, Rika, I??

In as apologetic a tone as she could muster, Emi explained that she got in an accident after leaving Rika yesterday, ruining the blouse she borrowed in the process. Rika let out a wry laugh, completely unfazed.

?Ooh, you?re right. I can still see a couple bruises on you. I tell you, Emi, it?s a miracle you aren?t dead yet!?

Emi had deliberately kept herself unhealed after the battle against Lucifer. It would raise too many eyebrows if she had completely healed up just two days after being scarred in the underground corridor.

?Well, that blouse was pretty worn out anyway, so you don?t have to worry about it. Although, if you really wanted to make it up to me, you could keep me company while I stand in line for lunch, huh??

With a laugh, Rika patted Emi on the shoulder. Emi agreed, honestly relieved on the inside, and as they continued to chat about this, that, and the other thing, their work shift began.

An incoming call suddenly arrived at Emi?s station, giving her barely enough time to skim the regular morning mail. She picked it up, mentally switching her brain to work mode.

?Thank you for your patience! This is Yusa from the Dokodemo customer??

?Whoa! Dang! It actually connected!?

??Uh??

The voice on the other end was familiar to Emi, no matter how much she wished otherwise.

?Yo! Emi! Can you hear me??

?Kkhhh??

The blood flowed into Emi?s head as she painfully groaned through her teeth.

?Man, I had no idea you could really aim at people like that. This is gonna be a lot more useful than I thought!?

?Look, what are you doing?! I?m at work right now!?

?Aww, calm down. It?s just an experiment.?

?What kind of experiment?!?

?Hackin?.?

?Ha? What??

?I mean, like, Urushihara got himself directly connected to your booth ?cause he went to an Internet café and hacked into your company?s main computer. So I figured if we had a PC at home, we could do a lot more than that?so I made the first big purchase of my life! Monthly installments on my credit card, baby!?

Emi could feel her heartbeat thud against both of her temples. She was unable to stop it.

?Well, there?s a lot I?d like to ask you, but first, who the hell is Urushihara?!?

?Oh, I mean Lucifer. He?s, like, a total whiz with computers.?

?Well, great! Fine! So what do you want?!?

?Oh, I just thought it be safer if I tried it with someone I was pretty familiar with, so? Sorry to bother you!?

Maou could not have sounded less apologetic. Emi irritably slammed her hand down on her desk.

?Someone you?re pretty familiar with?! Don?t give me that BS! Why do I have to be your??

?Oh, chill out! You?re the only girl who could ever take me on! I?d call that ?familiar? enough, y?know? Sorry! Anyway, later!?

Having said his fill, Maou hung up.

Emi groaned, there being no place nearby to let her raging emotions explode.

?Uh? What?s wrong, Emi??

Rika?s voice was anxious from the other booth.

?Nothing!!?

The screech was enough to unnerve the entire office.

?Man, that was awesome! Anyway, I gotta go to work, so try to get used to that PC a little more in the meantime, okay, Urushihara?? Maou beamed as he removed his headset.

??This piece of crap?? Hanzou Urushihara?aka Lucifer, newly readmitted into Maou?s Devil?s Castle after agreeing to head up his new IT department?was plainly dissatisfied with the laptop Maou had purchased on the cheap in Akihabara; its OS was a good two versions behind the times. The computer he had at the Internet café was newer in every possible way.

?Hey, I bought that for you, okay? You should be glad I got same-day activation on that Internet line, too! How much do you think that cost me??

?I thought they gave you a discount on net service once you bought the hardware! They didn?t give you any of that??

?Hey, you can stop whining once you?re not wanted for robbery, okay? If you want a brand-new PC, then how ?bout finding a way to recharge my magic power first? Then you?ll have the time to clear your name and work for one.?

?This is ridiculous. Why must I be bound to the laws of these mere humans??

Maou and Ashiya glanced at each other, then laughed as Urushihara?s whining continued.

?Remember when we said stuff like that??

?Indeed. Seems like such an oddly long time ago, doesn?t it??

Suddenly, Ashiya?s eyes darted toward the five-hundred-yen wall clock he had purchased at the hundred-yen shop.

?Your Demonic Highness! It?s time for work!?

He bowed deferentially as he opened the door.

?Hey, I?m getting sick of those black-pepper fries, okay? Bring something different home with you!?

?I will be preparing egg-drop soup for dinner tonight. Be safe on your bicycle!?

Maou set off for work amid Urushihara?s selfish whining and Ashiya?s househusbandlike farewell. His resignation toward the role had risen to the point where it formed his overall philosophy in life.

It would be another peaceful day for the hundred-square-foot Devil?s Castle, a mere five minutes? walk from Sasazuka station.

THE AUTHOR, THE AFTERWORD, AND YOU!

When you sign a pact with the devil, you usually wind up paying for it with your life, or your soul, or something else that makes the wish you receive in return seem pretty pointless after the fact.

Satoshi Wagahara, the Author, is a demon among demons, a writer who has forged a deal with the Devil King himself.

Thanks to a Hero with the blood of an angel glaring at the hapless demon lord to the side, the Author was lucky enough to avoid having to hand over his soul on the spot. The price demanded, however, was just as dear: The Devil King and the Hero said ?Give us your lifetime? in tandem.

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 175