Chapter 1 - Demon Lord, Working Hard For A Living
Their savings had run out.And the reason for it had been quite
simple. They had spent all their money.First of all, they had spent
it on a refrigerator that they desired. With summer coming up just
ahead, it was a necessary procurement in order to keep their food
preserved.Next was a bicycle. It was the cheapest city bicycle that
lacked even gears, but it was enough for getting to work and
back.After that was a washing machine. Initially, they had thought
that they could manage by going to the coin laundries, but that was
surprisingly more cumbersome and time-consuming. And with summer
approaching, it was a necessary domestic appliance.Since all these
things had been paid for up front, their savings had begun to dry
up.Why dont we spend our money in a more restrained fashion?Those
sermon-like words slammed into his ears.Then are you saying that
it'd be fine if I got a stomach-ache after eating some spoiled
food? Are you saying that you'd be fine wearing the same clothes
every day?I dont mean it in that way,The cool and low voice spoke
in an admonishing way.Even if our immediate funds are running a bit
low, we have your wages. Since your pay cheque next month has a
reasonable amount, dont you think it would be more efficient if we
pay in set instalments?I dont like paying in instalments.But even
so.We have to pay interest if we pay in instalments! I dont want to
spend money on things that we dont even need.However.One must not
pay more than what they have when they are paying for something. I
dont want to be in debt. If we have no money, then we wont spend
any. So I wont accept anything thats not purchased with one
payment.They were inside a six-tatami-sized[1]room that could be
found anywhere. With a worn-out casual kotatsu[2]between them, two
males sat across from each other.The tall and lanky one who was
doing the lecturing slowly stood up, and placed his hand on the
refrigerator that was the subject of the argument.Then allow me to
ask you, Maou-sama,The one being lectured, a young man both average
in height and physique, was being referred to by the taller young
man as 'Maou', while the taller man opened the door of the
refrigerator and glared at him.How do you plan to survive on only
some konjac, cucumbers and milk until your next payday?T-ThatsMaou,
the one who was being lectured to, could say nothing in
response.I-Its not like were completely out of money. We still have
some money in our wallets.The taller ones eyes were saying thats
not enough.O-Or, I could get some leftover food from my part-time
jobAre we going Super Size Me[3]until your next payday for every
meal? That really does sound like a healthy lifestyle.The large
refuse bags lying around near the refrigerator were filled to the
top with a certain famous fast food restaurant's food wrappings.Im
still young.If you eat meals with high calories and high
cholesterol levels from a young age, I wonder what you would be
like 10 years from now. I just hope that you wouldnt suffer from a
heart attack before we return.More poignant words followed.Our
sense of time is different from our past. Living 10 years as a
human could feel like a short time, but itll also feel like its
dragging on forever, and it will very hard to maintain our
health... Do you have a plan to avert that?Shut up! I dont! Im
sorry, I dont! Is that enough! Arggh! Its not like its entirely my
fault!I do apologize for my shortcomings. However, Maou-sama was
the one who suggested that we hide and wait for the right moment,
when by your true nature, you should be the one greatest at
maintaining your health and well-being.At that comment, Maou was at
a loss for words. Just as it seemed like he was reflecting on his
behaviour, he yelled,Its time for work!He jumped up and fled the
room. At Maous swift action, the other young man who was standing
in the kitchen lost his chance to stop him.P-Please wait,
Maou-sama! I havent finished.Shut up, shut up, Alsiel! Ill listen
to your lectures when I get back!Had he followed after Maou, his
nose could have been crushed by the door that was violently slammed
shut.Maou-sama!When this person named Alsiel shouted at the door,
the door obediently opened. Maou was looking at Alsiel straight in
the face while extending his hands outwards.Rain! Umbrella!At Maous
words, Alsiel looked outside and saw the low-lying clouds, even
though it had been quite sunny in the morning. The raindrops had
only just started to fall. Feeling bad about having to delay Maou
for any longer, Alsiel handed him the old vinyl umbrella that had
been propped up against the wall.Thank you, then see ya!The door
slammed shut in front of his eyes again, and he heard stomping
sounds as Maou went down the stairs.Lets go! My beloved
Dullahan!The person named Maou, dressed purely in UNISLO[4]apparel,
rode out from the alleyway, holding the worn-out vinyl umbrella and
ringing the bell on his new bicycle.The one who was doing the
lecturing - Alsiel - also fully dressed in UNISLO, leaned forward
on the shared stairs, and sighed after looking blankly ahead.And he
walked back into the single room with a worn-out nameplate that had
Maou written on it in permanent marker. As he did so, he shook his
head and sighed deeply. Why did things end up like this? The rain
clouds and the sound of rain darkened both the room and his
thoughts - perfectly reflecting his feelings at that moment.A
dismal sound of a doorbell echoed around the old room. The
doorbell. Yes, in this block of worn-out units, the rooms did not
have intercoms. Ashiya unlocked the door and spoke: We dont have a
TV in this room.He was already telling the truth to the
MHK[5]workers. In Maous opinion, the modern 1seg[6]fad would have
been enough, but the two of them did not have the luxury of buying
the latest gadgets.I came to see just in case. If you do buy one,
please take this statement to the bank.The worker handed over a
thick envelope that appeared to contain all the official papers,
and walked away with nary a business smile.
[edit]Even though Ente Isla was an expansive world, there should
be no inhabitant there who had not heard of the Demon Lord Satans
name. The name belonged to the leader of the creatures of darkness,
a name synonymous with fear and brutality itself.He invaded the
continent of the Holy Cross, the world known to be protected by the
gods, and ruled the human world with an ambition to build a
sanctuary for all creatures of darkness.Unfortunately for the
humans, the great Demon Lord had four subordinates who were nearly
as strong as their master.Alsiel, Lucifer, Adramelech and Malacoda.
Those four made up the Arch-Demons.On Ente Isla, there were four
great continents arranged in the shape of a cross, with another
continent floating in the middle of the great Ignola ocean at the
centre. It was the land where the gods watched over the continents.
Placing Alsiel in the East, Lucifer in the West, Adramelech in the
North and Malacoda in the South, the Demon Lord expanded his sphere
of influence and had nearly wiped out all of humanity.However,
something happened to Lucifers army in the West.The news of
Lucifers army being wiped out single-handedly by a human reached
the Demon Lords ears.The human who had wiped out Lucifers army
named itself Hero and started to revolt along with a small number
of human survivors.Lucifer was a fallen angel from heaven.The
Western Continent was a great one with the organization closest to
the heavens amongst the humans- The Holy Church. The plan was to
station the former angel Lucifer at the Western Continent so that
he could fight against The Holy Church, which was using holy
powers; the plan was instantly reduced to nothing by a single human
with the name of Hero.However, a few hiccups in long campaigns were
to be expected. Lucifer was just unlucky, but the Demon Lord
laughed at the news, thinking that gathering the remaining
Arch-Demons would be more than enough to battle the Hero.However,
that was the beginning of their troubles.Satan had thought the
humans to be disposable trash.But think about it. Was there a way
to kill off every insect on earth? Even a great lion could die
because of a single poisonous bug.After Lucifer, both Adramelech
and Malacoda were defeated over the course of a single year. The
leader of the four Arch-Demons, Alsiel, gave up on his Eastern
Continent and rushed to the Demon Lords aid on the Central
Continent. Ente Isla, which they had taken a long time to conquer,
was now being lost within a single year. Satan could not accept it
any more.Uniting under the name of The Holy Church, humanity built
up their strength- raising up an army from who knows where, and
pushed the Demon Lord back, towards the Central Continent of Ente
Isla.The Central Continent was quickly captured. The Demon Lords
army had looked down on the humans, thinking that there was just a
single Hero leading the revolt, but they were quickly
defeated.Satan and Alsiel fought with the Hero and its three
companions at the Demons Castle at the centre of the Central
Continent.Even if they were the Hero and the army, they could not
end the fight so easily, as their enemy was the Demon Lord and an
Arch-Demon. However, it was clear that the Hero was overpowering
Satan and Alsiel.Finally, when the Hero broke off one of Satans
horns with the holy sword, Alsiel made up his mind to retreat and
advised the Demon Lord, saying that at this rate, not only would
they taste defeat, but that they would be completely
eliminated.Satan bitterly agreed. Hence, they decided to flee from
Ente Isla and wait for a day when they had recovered enough powers
to launch another attack.Satan was still resentful as he jumped
into the gate to another world, even after seeing the Heros furious
expression when he avoided the holy sword that was about to pierce
his heart.With a voice strong enough to reach the heavens and shake
up the whole of Ente Isla, Satan let out his last roar.Humans! I
will leave Ente Isla to you for now! But I will come back to make
it mine once more!However, a large amount of magical power was
needed to manipulate the gate freely, and Satan and Alsiel had not
the strength to control it after sustaining injuries.Swept up by
the flow of the gate, the two demons arrived at a world with an
astonishing civilization.The tall buildings and mysterious lights
that lit up the night were phenomena that Satan and Alsiel had
never seen before, and were beyond their comprehension.It seemed
like they were in a major city, but on a dimly-lit backstreet.
Beyond the large buildings, they heard a noise that they had never
heard before. It was a place where it was impossible to discern the
ruler or the kind of local inhabitants. It happened just as they
resolved to hide somewhere and tend to their wounds.A bright light
suddenly shone upon them.What are you two doing here?It was a mans
voice. The man spoke with such a surprised tone that even Satan
could understand the meaning. Looking at the source of the voice,
he saw a humanoid creature, similar to those in Ente Isla. Light
shone out of a cylinder in the humans hand.Are you two injured?
Were the two of you involved in a fight?It seemed like they were
one of the ruling orders of this world. Another man behind the one
speaking was looking at them, as well.To avoid unnecessary trouble,
Alsiel tried to scare them away with a,Scram! Do you know whom this
one is!in a menacing voice, but for some reason, the man wrinkled
his eyebrows in a troubled manner.Because of that, not only was
Alsiel surprised, but Satan was as well. A demons voice carried
power in itself. There should not be a human who could withstand
the words so easily.A foreigner, huh. This is going to be a
bother.The man tilted his head, took out an object that resembled a
black box, and started speaking to it.This is Sasaki from the
patrolling group. It seems like there has been a small fight. The
victims are Asian foreigners, and the place isInspecting the man,
they saw that he was wearing a tough-looking outfit made out of
either leather or cloth, and on his waist, there was a bar-like
object with a handle. On the mans head, he wore something with a
golden badge that appeared to be shaped after some plant[7]. Could
this man be a knight of some kind in this world?The act of him
speaking to himself was probably some means of long-distance
communication. If this man really was a knight, then they would be
in danger if they got involved with him.There were two opponents.
Both of them seemed to be negligent in their guard. To take out
their observers, Alsiel tried to gather up some of his remaining
magical powers to shoot out a magic bullet, however-WhatHe could
not gather any powers. Not only that, the harder he tried to gather
power, the more he could feel his magic leaking out, and he could
not stop it. Alsiel turned around to report his situation to
Satan.M-Maou-sama. That look is?His voice shook from the shock.
Alsiel saw it. What the king of the Underworld looked like under
the bright light.Alsiel, dont use any of your magical powers. At
least until we understand this world, that is.Satan appeared to be
calm, but he was clenching his teeth as if he was trying to resist
something.The Demon Lord Satan stood there in the form of a weak
creature, human.Anyways, misters, a car will be coming soon. Well
let you go if theres nothing wrong, OK?The two men were not scared
of the two demons at all. Still in a state of shock, Alsiel looked
down at his own hands. He saw a humans hand that he had never seen
before.Suddenly, flashing light everywhere, a black and white
carriage that they have never seen before showed up. From the
carriage, more men with the same outfit as the two men from before
walked out and lead Satan and Alsiel to the carriage.Can you
understand Japanese? Arent you hot wearing those clothes during the
summer?the man from before asked as he pointed at the clothes that
the two demons were wearing. Before, they had been two great demons
who were a lot larger than the average human, so in their human
form, they looked like newborn babies wearing suits. Also, their
clothes had numerous jewels to indicate their positions as king and
general.Satan looked at Alsiel, but both of them could not reply to
anything, and even if they did, their language wouldnt be
understood by the other two men. Well, there are a lot of strange
young people in this area.The man mustve been satisfied with his
own explanation, because he didnt say anything else after that. In
the end, Satan and Alsiel were dragged into a place called the
police office, a place where the rule keepers of this world were
gathered.When looking at how the two demons acted as they were
being interviewed in separate rooms, one could really tell that the
Demon Lord Satan was different from Alsiel. Satan cast a spell on
the policeman who was interviewing him and gathered information
about this world. The mental strength of a hard-working pawn or an
officer seemed to be insignificantly weaker than even arrogant
royalty in any world.According to the hypnotised policeman, the two
demons had apparently arrived at a world called Earth and they were
on an island country named Japan. And in that Japan, they were in
the capital city named Tokyo and were near some Harajuku station on
a railway network.It seemed like magic or magical powers, demons or
devils did not exist in this world. In the previous world, magical
powers were as plentiful as air because the people there believed
in its existence, but if the people here did not, then they
obviously would not be able to gather any.So youre saying that I
lost my powers.Alsiel was unable to cope with the shock and fell to
his knees..Ah, but your power hasI only have a small amount of
power left. But its quite a burden to stop the leakage.The capacity
of the Demon Lords powers was very different from other demons, so
even though he had used up a lot of his power during the fight with
the Hero, his power was many times greater than Alsiels. That is
why Satan was able to use a hypnotic spell.I think I wont run out
of power if I can control the leakage. However...The problem was,
if he had spent it all, then he would not be able to regain his
powers.Wounds can always heal, but at this rate, they wouldnt be
able to regain their powers forever once it runs out. Even if they
opened up a gate, they would not be able to control it, and they
could end up in a more dangerous world, let alone going to Ente
Isla.It would be better to find a way to survive in this world for
now, instead of gambling on another world.Although the people of
this world did not believe in demons or magical powers, they were
lucky that the people believed in gods and other deities. While
there was a mentality that tended to believe in curses, people did
not have the ability to gather holy powers.They should not be
subjugated for being evil in this Japan. Making the policeman write
down that there were no problems, the two demons walked out from
the police station.Satan and Alsiel walked into a side street where
the street lights did not reach them and started to plan their next
move.For the time being, they needed to find a way to regain their
powers in this world. And in order to do so, they had to arm
themselves with a long-term strategy.And if they could not gather
any magical powers, then they would be unable to perform any magic,
and that was related to their survival.High-ranking demons did not
need to eat because they could convert magical power to life
energy, and a world without magic was like a world without food for
them.Then why were there demons who ate? That was because they
could also get energy from the food that they ate, like any other
living organism.In a world without magic, the two demons had to eat
for their survival. They heard that Japan was a country operated by
money, so they needed money to purchase their food.Naturally, the
two of them did not possess any money of this world.Alsiel, let me
just check. Do you think you couldve run away from those policemen
if you wanted to?At the question, Alsiel shook his head with a
serious expression. Satan nodded his head to show that he
understood.The two great demons who ruled the whole of Ente Isla
and the humans on it, were now unable to run away from a few
humans.It was not that the humans had become stronger, but that
they themselves had become weaker. That was how fierce their battle
with the Hero had been.This appearance isAlsiel looked at his hand
as if he was looking at something strange. The soft and thin skin.
The plain face and the choppy hair texture. The round, clean
fingernails and weak muscles.I know this sounds obvious, but we
cant maintain our demonic forms when were lacking in magical
power.The appearances of demons reflected the power that they held.
The claws to rip their enemies apart or the leg strength that
enabled them to leap over castle walls, the wings for flying in the
sky and hair formed out of snakes, were all maintained by magical
energies.To think that this is what I look like without all those
things. Perhaps the human is the basis of all creatures.What are
you saying, Maou-sama. I would hate to think of myself as a human.
Im sure this was caused by the gate when we crossed over to this
world. Well, thats not the problem here.They did not even have the
strength to open a gate. They did not even have the strength to win
against a human of this world. Hence, they had to survive while
living by the rules of humans in this country called Japan.Obeying
the human rules. For the Demon Lord and his Arch-Demon, that was
like abandoning the last of their pride.However, reality was cruel
and they had to abide by the rule of those who do not work shall
not eat.The Demon Lord and his Arch-Demon dragged their loose
devilish robes and set out into this unfortunate and unfamiliar
world.
According to the information gathered at the police station,
they needed something called a family register and an address in
order to maintain a minimalistic life in Japan. Without these two
things, one could not find a job to earn money.They heard that they
could get a family register and an address at a place called the
ward office. So their first destination became the ward office.
They dragged their injured bodies from the Harajuku police station
to the nearest Shibuya ward office, but the place wasnt open until
the next morning.With dejected hearts, Satan and Alsiel spent the
night waiting in front of the ward office doors.When morning came
to this city that was continuously lit up for the whole night, the
city started to come alive. While there were humans who were
wearing colorful clothes, there were also male humans who were
wearing more simple colored clothes, such as black or navy, and
when they started to appear, the Shibuya ward office finally
opened. As soon as it did, Satan and Alsiel ran towards the
counter, surprising the worker in the process, and were able to
secure an official copy of the family register by hypnotizing the
worker.The next place they had to go was the place where they sold
residential addresses, the real-estate office.Back in Ente Isla,
Satan and Alsiel were able to master the human language in just
three days. They were burning with the enthusiasm to do the same
with this Japanese up to a practical level.In the end, the
real-estate agent thought of the two as foreigners because of their
rough Japanese and their strange outfits, so he ended up providing
a lot of useful information very kindly.Satan told the hard working
real-estate agent that they couldnt afford to live in an expensive
place.A hypnosis spell did not require a great amount of magical
power, but they would have to use the spell over and over again if
they lived in an expensive apartment and couldnt pay the owner.
Because they would be kicked out if they didnt pay the rent. So
when they mentioned that they had to rent a place where they could
afford it, and spend a minimal amount, the agent suggested a place
with a troubled expression.But this units owner is a bit of a
strange one.It was a room in a unit building in a town called
Sasazuka near the Shibuya area.The rent at Room 201 of Villa Rosa
Sasazuka was 45,000 yen[8]per month, without a deposit or a bond,
no need for a referee, 6 tatami big room in a 60 year old unit, no
bathroom but a toilet in each of the room.The owner said that she
prefers people with an uncertain background like yourselves.It was
really unbelievable, but if there were no other suitable places,
then this was their only choice. Riding in the real-estate agents
car (something that people rode in apparently), they arrived at the
2 story high unit in a quiet neighborhood. The paint had already
been peeled off on the walls, and tiles were missing here and there
from the roof. The gutter around the roof was covered in rust and
the shared stairway to the second floor wasnt straight. There were
no signs of human life there, so all of the rooms mustve been
empty.T-This isAlsiel moaned.Y-Yeah. Even I can understand.The two
of them whispered to each other in their Demon tongue. Even they
could tell that this unit was completely rundown.The Demon Lord was
the king of the underworld who ruled over the creatures of the
dark. He couldn't stand living in this rundown unit even if he was
now powerless. And if all of the rooms were empty, didnt that mean
that even humans didnt want to live in this dump.They couldnt
possibly live in a place like this. They turned around to tell that
to the agent when they saw someone who wasnt their young
real-estate agent. Is that a human?It was a mysterious organism
that the two demons could only find to be strange even with their
uniqueness. It was something that was almost as big as Alsiel, who
was considered to be fairly tall by human standards. Calling her
'plump' wouldn't do justice to her body size, and the two of them
were finally able to recognize that the creature was a woman after
staring at it.On her towering hair dyed navy and silver, she pinned
a hydrangea ornament and wore a light purple shawl over her
shocking purple summer dress. On every one of her fingers she wore
amethyst rings, and had a pair of spotless enamel high-heels. She
had purple lipstick and purple eye shadow, with thick white
foundation that seemed like it was going to crack if one touched it
and her cheeks were blinding with make-up. Her entire look was
somewhat reminiscent of a giant partially peeled taro.Hello. You
must be the new hopeful tenants.I-It spoke!The presence of the
woman had already overwhelmed the two- enough for Alsiel to react
like that by reflex.I am the owner of this Villa Rosa Sasazuka,
Miki Shiba.The stunned Satan and Alsiel saw the real-estate agents
car leaving over the purple creatures shoulders.Miki is spelt with
beauty(Mi-) and shine(ki-). But please call me Mikity.The two of
them were now able to understand Japanese up to a certain extent,
but their heads refused to understand this mysterious Shiba
person.They shouldnt get involved with this person. They made up
their minds, but when they came to their senses, they were already
inside one of the rooms in the worn out unit and were listening
about the structure of the rooms while signing various forms.Then
this room will be your shelter from today. I live in the building
next door, so please do come and visit if you have anything that
you are not sure of. Then excuse me.When the purple storm finally
retreated, all that was left in the room was the speechless Satan,
Alsiel and their rent contract with a purple kiss mark on it.Satan
and Alsiel sealed the contract out of the spur of the moment. They
were dazed out for a while but they were barely able to recover and
think about their situation critically.The building was old and
their landlord was someone who couldnt possibly be a human.
However, the two youths were unemployed and they had no address. By
the rules of this world, would there be another place that would
accept someone as suspicious as them? Looking at the situation like
that, they needed to be grateful about having a roof over their
heads.The two of them vowed to live quietly and pay the rent on
time, so that they wouldnt need to see their landlords face ever
again.In this world, there seems to be a proverb that says one must
endure unspeakable hardships for the sake of vengeance[9]. This
must be one of those cases.Their bodies were injured because of
their fight with the Hero, their magical energies were spent, and
they were swept up by the gates flow and deposited in a world that
theyve never heard of. Even someone like the Demon Lord Satan was
losing his powers after using the hypnotic spell twice. Satan
experienced tiredness like hed never felt before.To heal his
wounded body and heart, the Demon Lord Satan slept for three days
straight.Sleeping for three days straight with his injured body
without eating or drinking caused Satan to suffer from malnutrition
and had to be rushed to hospital. He couldnt even stand up straight
because he was dehydrated and was lacking in vitamins.To save his
pale and dying master who was staring blankly with unfocused eyes,
Alsiel had to request help from their landlord Shiba after just
three days of moving in. Because they didnt have a clue as to how
medical attention worked in this world.Something that Shiba
summoned with a long distance communication system called a phone
was a white ambulance that shone out red light.Watching his prone
master who had needles in his arms, Alsiel cried out of
humiliation, realizing that even the Demon Lord had to adjust to
this world not only in terms of his appearance but his material
needs as well.However, the reality was cruel for everyone.The
medical treatment in this world was very expensive. There was a
healthcare system that reduced the fee for medical attention, but
naturally, neither Satan nor Alsiel were registered in that
system.Even Alsiel, who was still unfamiliar with the currency of
this world, could see that the issued medical fee was a complete
rip-off. When Satan was allowed to leave, he had to use the
hypnotic spell again in order to pay the medical fee.Anyhow, they
needed the money. However, they couldnt be caught by the police nor
could they waste a lot of their magical power for it.They also
needed to register for the national healthcare system.Deciding that
this was going to be the last time they use the hypnotic spell, the
two of them went to a place called a bank and made a bank account
and secured some funds. They cast the spell on the banker and made
the worker deposit 10,000yen[10]in to their everyday account.It was
an undeniable crime, but as demons they shouldnt distinguish right
from wrong. Suppressing their conflicting thoughts within their
conscience, they were able to acquire some funds.With the
10,000yen, they bought some food for their immediate survival and
something called a resume. They were told that they needed this
resume in order to find a job and start earning money.If they
entered in the required information and submitted it to an
appropriate workplace, then they would be able to have an interview
and if they passed that process, then they could start
working.However, neither Satan nor Alsiel had any skills that were
useful in this world. They couldnt possibly write down Previous
work experience: King of Underworld, Hobbies/Interests: World
domination, so they could only apply for jobs in the amateurs
welcomed section.The two of them wrote out many resumes.Putting up
with their rage and humiliation, the two of them wrote down their
names while dreaming of over powering the Hero and conquering Ente
Isla some day.Name Sadao MaouName Shiro Ashiya. These names should
be fine, right?What are you saying now? We already made our family
registers.And so, the Demon Lord Satan = Sadao Maou and Arch-Demon
Alsiel = Shiro Ashiya, decided on the room 201 of Villa Rosa
Sasazuka as their temporary Demons Castle and nurtured their
ambition of reconquering Ente Isla again.
The two of them had the minimum requirements of finding a job
and maintaining their lives, but they couldnt rest. They needed
more money to maintain their electricity, plumbing and gas.Satan
shed tears, thinking about the past, when he had full control over
lightening and hail.Satan and Alsiel, called Maou and Ashiya right
now, appeared to be just two youths in their twenties.After looking
through a few employment magazines, the Demon Lord and the
Arch-Demon found out that there were one time jobs.If they register
at this agency, then the agency would introduce them to one time
jobs at various workplaces. The daily pay varied from 5,000yen to
10,000yen. The difference was in the nature of the workplace and
how hard one worked.Already running out of funds, they quickly
threw in a 10yen coin to a public payphone and scheduled an
interview.When they arrived at a branch office in Shinjuku, they
found out that it wasnt really an interview, but more like an
introduction to the job, so they got a job on the same day.Since
both of them were amateurs, they received a simple job of assisting
the set up of an event hall and only worked for a few hours.Looking
at the 7,000yen that each of them earned that day, Satan made up
his mind.They could earn their living fees like this. When they
earn a sizable amount, they could find a permanent part time
job.However, that plan ended up going to waste in a fortnight.It
happened just when they were starting to remember the faces of the
workers at the agency.The agency received a notice of suspension
from the government, so they were unable to supply any jobs to
their customers. It was a great disaster.As the two of them
received the news and came back home disheartened, they ran into a
TV news crew waiting outside.Rumors of the agency deploying their
workers into illegal workplaces and them taking some of the workers
earnings started to surface.While the two of them were watching the
news on street TVs, thinking why they, the two great demons, had to
be out of work because of a few humans who broke their own rules,
Satan had an idea.Hold on, Ashiya.Please call me Alsiel.Our goal is
world domination, not barely surviving in this world in the first
place.Yes, you are certainly right.You try to find a way to recover
our magical power. I will work, since my life force and my magical
power is higher. I want you to use your good brain on finding a way
to gather some magical power in Japan.Maou-samaIts Maou. Anyway, we
could be better off if both of us worked, but we must set our
priorities right. In this world, the concept of demons and magical
power exists. If there is the concept, then there should be an
origin. If we can find that.We can find a way to recover our
magical power?Satan nodded his head.This should be better than both
of us working. Why dont we recover our magical power and conquer
this world and launch an attack on Ente Isla.Ashiya, no, Alsiel was
moved by the Maous words and he knelt before the Demon King.I
understand, Maou-sama. I will put my life on the line to find a way
to return to Ente Isla, and to recover you magical power! Stand up,
Alsiel. Were at the crossing lights. Its embarrassing.The people
passing by around them looked down on Alsiel, who started to yell
out something, with uncaring looks and continued to walk on.
The Demon Lord Satan pretended to be a Japanese person named
Sadao Maou and worked as hard as he could. He worked at a lot of
different places. They varied from a traffic officer at a
construction site. Packager at a factory. Assistant at a removal
company. Maintaining order at the train station during the morning
hours.Alsiel, under the name Shiro Ashiya, did his best with the
housework so that Maou could concentrate on working and being
healthy- while spending his spare time on researching how to
recover their magical powers and maintaining a household account
diligently.And after around six months of their arrival in Japan,
Maou was hired at a fast food giant- MgRonalds[11]as a long-term
part-time worker.On his first day at work, he returned home smiling
happily while hugging a bag full of unsold leftovers. To transcribe
what he said, he said With this, we dont need to worry about our
food.At the start, Ashiya was also happy about not having to worry
about the food cost anymore. However, it was only natural that he
would get sick of eating burgers, fries and fried chicken that had
high calories every day. And after a week, his stomach started to
rumble, so he never wanted to see it again.Maou on the other hand,
mustve liked the taste, because he continued to eat it.So in the
end, Ashiya had to step up and pay more attention to their diet.
Thanks to that, he couldnt make any progress on recovering their
magical powers. To avoid eating junk foods for every meal, Ashiya
had to run to the supermarkets just before their closing time to
pick up some discounted ingredients.Maou mustve been accepted to be
a good worker, because he received a pay raise in just two months.
Ashiya would never forget that day. The Demon Lord Satan was
genuinely happy that his hourly wages was raised by a whole 100yen
and Ashiya could only cry seeing that sight.Even after that, Maou
continued to work harder and harder and received a promotion as a
rank A crew member at the MgRonalds near the Hatagaya station.His
hourly wages was 200yen higher than what he started at half a year
ago. This was apparently an unconventional treatment. Ashiya would
be able to tell if Maou used a spell, because his magical powers
would decrease, so he knew that Maou achieved this by his efforts.
Some customers sent emails to MgRonalds headquarters about Maous
excellent customer service, so he received a employee of the month
award as well.Soon, Maou started to talk about things that were far
from his original ambition of conquering the world, such as how his
manager valued him and how excellent his new junior at work was.
The scale of Maous ambition decreased day by day, as he started to
say that he was going to be the manager and rule the world one
day.For Ashiya, who took great honor in serving his master, he
could only feel pitiful about his masters recent situation.
Without opening the MHK envelope, Ashiya placed it in the
mailbox. As a loyal servant, he buried his complaints and unrest
deep inside his heart and set off to art galleries and museums as
usual.After researching continuously, Ashiya was able to come to
the conclusion that magical power existed in some places in this
worldThere were some structures and civilization in the world such
as the Stonehenge in England, the Pyramids in Egypt or the Nazca
Lines in Peru.This was the result of his research on ancient
cultures and artifacts at the library. In Maou and Ashiyas Demon's
Castle, they did not have the luxury of having an internet
connection.However, Ashiya couldnt determine which one was the real
source.They didnt have the money to go overseas, and even if they
somehow got there with Maous hypnotic spells, they wouldnt be able
to tell until they actually reach the site.It would be terrible if
they actually reached the site only to find that they wasted their
efforts and Maous magical powers ran out at that moment.So Ashiya
decided to search around for artifacts that were easily
accessible.It seemed like artifacts from overseas were displayed at
the state museums and art galleries on a regular basis. He was
inspecting the displays to see if there were any that held any
trace of magical power identical to theirs.Today, he decided to go
to a special exhibition at the National Museum of Western Art in
Ueno.It was raining outside, so he grabbed a vinyl umbrella that
Maou had picked up before, locked the door to their room even
though they didnt have any valuables inside, and walked outside.The
scary thought of staying like this for their entire lives hit him,
and Ashiya shivered at the thought.Huh?However, he realized that it
was actually him who was being shaken. It was an earthquake.Over
the last year, they learned that Japan was very prone to
earthquakes, so he wasnt panicking. However, living at a unit that
was old enough for an honorable mention, the earthquake felt 30%
stronger.As expected, the earthquake settled down after 10 seconds
or so. Back in Ente Isla, humans entered into a state of panic
whenever there was an earthquake, thinking that it was gods rage on
them or an attack by the Demon Lord's army, but in Japan, people
didnt seem to worry at all.Ashiya didnt catch a train when he
traveled out to Shinjuku. Sasazuka was only a station away from
Shinjuku. It only took 20 minutes by walking. Checking that the
door was locked, he pocketed the keys and slowly walked down the
shared stairway.Ashiya didnt notice that he himself was starting to
feel happy about saving on transportation fees.Chapter 2 - Demon
Lord, Going on a Date With His Junior In Shinjuku
When Maou and Ashiya woke up the following morning, Emi was
nowhere to be seen.The bath towel that Emi used was folded neatly
on top of the laundry machine and on the floor below the window was
the key to the front door. Furthermore, in the kitchen next to the
sink was,What the heck is this?A pickled dish, I suppose?It was a
serving of finely cut konjac and cucumber, dressed in bean paste
and vinegar in a small bowl. Ashiya had no recollection of making
such a thing.I dont suppose its her gratitude to us for letting her
stay the night?""Lets see, I will taste test it.Ashiya unwrapped
the bowl and carried a piece to his mouth....Hmph, shes quite
formidable for an enemy.Is it good?It isnt bad.Ooh. Ive never
really had a pickled dish before.As he said that, he carried a
piece to his mouth as well.Now, why is the key on the floor?She
probably kept the window open and threw the key in after locking
the door, right? Even if you kept the window thats facing the
hallway open, it should still be safe since it's barred off."Thats
the hero for you, such a goody-two shoes thing to do.Ashiya gave a
mocking snort as he picked up the key.What would you do if it were
you?Isnt that obvious?Id lock the door and take the key with
me.Youre a demon.I am a demon, what of it?
Emi took the Keio Inokashira Line home. It was a seven minute
walk from Eifukuchou Station to her apartment, room number 505, at
Urban Heights Eifukuchou. She was surprised at how she was able to
sleep in until the first trains began operating.Although the
apartment complex called Villa Rose in Sasazuka was rundown, it was
still the Demon Lords castle. She was careless. In addition to
this, she had to use the Demon Lords money to take the train home.
She gritted her teeth in frustration.It feels like I was
defiled.Emi, however, still had to head out to Shinjuku with the
small change she had left. Its because Emi had work today as
well.She had her bank book and seal with her so she could withdraw
money but in the Eifukuchou area, there were no manned booths for
her bank.Emi showered intensely and violently in order to get rid
of the smell of the tatami floor from the Demon Lords castle.There
was still time before she had to get to work but she felt that she
would be corrupted by his evil if she did not purify herself.As she
stood in the hot water, she suddenly touched her head. It was the
area that the Demon Lord had touched when he helped her from the
attacking magic bullets. When she remembered how the Demon Lord
grabbed her head and handled it like a ball, she shivered.She was
glad to have bought new shampoo. She took a shower longer than
usual and she was thorough in using her shampoo and conditioner,
followed by hair packs for treatment.She scrubbed the entire area
that was touched by the Demon Lord as if he was a mold of
infectious bacteria. Half of the slightly acidic, medicinal
moisturizing beauty soap she had just bought was already gone.She
left the bathroom and went into the living room while drying her
hair with a bath towel. She picked up the remote control atop the
flowery patterned kotatsu and turned on the television.Although
these incidents occur in other countries, Japan in particular, was
sensitive to these shooting incidents. In reality, they were
magical bullets and what resulted were holes in the asphalt, broken
traffic lights, and demolished building shutters. This kind of
incident could only be seen as a shooting in the city so there was
no doubt that it would make the early morning news.The MHK was
flooded with information on the statuses of the railways and roads.
Both the metropolitan JR and private railways stated that services
would run as normal, so Emi should be able to ride the Keio
Inokashira Line without any trouble.In a short awhile, the incident
became a part of the news. As expected, the incident went through
the top news and the intersection that she met with the Demon Lord
last night was littered with the paparazzi.The police had
surrounded the intersection which was sealed off with yellow tape.
The wrecked building shutters, victim of circumstances, would
occasionally flicker by in the television. In the report, it seems
that they only knew that a shooting took place but they could not
pinpoint the reason and other details for its occurrence.The other
news channel were generally about the same incident, but,Wha! Those
guys!On one of the channels, the figures of Maou and Ashiya could
be seen mixed in with the residential onlookers at the scene.Emi
held back the reflexive urge to destroy the television. It was only
a moment that they were filmed but, it looked like they were having
a serious conversation judging by their faces. It seems that Maou
was filling in Ashiya on the events that transpired yesterday,A
bike with both wheels punctured had been left in the middle of the
intersection and the police are working quickly to identify the
owner of the bike who may be related to the incident.As the voice
of the reporter continued on, Emis eyes widened.Those idiotsThe
reason for those serious faces was this! They probably had not
expected things to escalate this far. They hoped to come early and
retrieve the bike only for the scene to end up like that.With the
bicycle in hand, the police will likely find the owner. The one who
they will find will be Maou Sadao who is living at Villa Rose
Sasazuka.Well, its got nothing to do with me.Having said that, Emi
kept the television on and went back into the bathroom to dry her
hair.Maou was a victim in any case, so even if he was found to be
related to the incident, Emi did not sustain any injuries at all.
In fact, if Maou gets caught by the police, it would be more
convenient for her.Meanwhile, the news had changed. They reported
that there have been frequent robberies in the area targeting
women, the elderly and late night convenience stores. Although Emi
could only hear the news, listening to it put her in a gloomy
mood.Good grief, it seems that on gloomy days, nothing but gloomy
things occur.
Emis part time job was as a specialist telemarketing
receptionist contract employee.It was a ten minute walk from the
east exit of Shinjuku Station to the business district, where the
major phone company Docodemo[1]was located as well as Emis office,
which primarily handled troubleshooting and customer advising.The
telemarketing field seemed to be short of capable workers, but this
was the very first job Emi acquired in this world.The hourly wage
was high due to the labor shortage and Emi was an asset to the
workforce due to her natural confidence and lovely
voice.Furthermore, Emi has the ability to understand the languages
of this world.Even if she has never heard the language before, her
special ability allows her brain to process the notions behind the
words. If she replies with the same notion, the other party should
be able to understand her as well. Looking at it from a different
perspective, whether it be English, French, Korean, or Chinese; she
was fluent in them all.Having arrived to her job, she changed into
her uniform in the locker room. The uniforms design consisted of a
grey vest, a tight skirt, and a blouse with a ribbon. She then
clocked in and arrived at her assigned seat. Since she was not a
full-time employee, she did not have her own desk but due to the
shortage of workers, she usually gets the same seat.Morning,
Emi.Ah, good morning, Rika.Suzuki Rika, Emis coworker in the next
seat over, called out to her. Her employee number was right after
Emis so whenever they come in on the same day, they sit next to
each other. Her bright brown short hair contrasted against the grey
color of their uniform.Hey, wasnt that shooting incident pretty
close to your place Emi?Emis heart momentarily jumped but her face
showed no visible signs of that.Its three stations away, you
know.Still, its really rare for there to be a random shooting in
the middle of the city. I wonder if Japan is finally becoming a
little dangerous.The morning news only considered the event as a
shooting incident but it seems that Rika already saw it as a
shooting spree.With so many earthquakes and robberies occurring
recently, its like nature and mankind is spiraling into chaos. Ah,
did you know that a new curry shop is opening today?Emi was already
used to the whimsical nature of women conversations in this
world.Hmm, nope.Apparently, the famous shop from Shimokitazawa is
expanding down here. Want to give it a try for lunch?Eeeh, wont it
be packed if its so famous?They said its really good, you know?When
Emi had first arrived to Japan, she was surprised by the abundance
and tastiness of the food available every day. Amongst them was
curry which had a revolutionary taste that exceeded her
imagination; an impression that never changed even though she had
adjusted to Japanese life. And so, Rikas offer was incredibly
tempting but she shook her head as her hair swayed behind
her.Sorry, I dont have time to wait in line today. I lost my
wallet.Eeh? Seriously!?She gave an exaggerated display of shock
that could have knocked over her roller chair.My train passes, cash
card, and credit card were all in it. There are also some
formalities I have to go through, and afterwards, I have to
withdraw cash at a bank boothOuch, I guess waiting in line is out
of the question.Sorry!Mm, its okay. So what now? Want to settle for
MgD?Sorry, anything but MgD.To Emi, Rika was more than just a
coworker; she was the very first friend she made when she crossed
to this world. The reason why Emi shortens MgRonald as MgD was
because of Rikas influence.Although Maou had ridiculed her for not
having any friends with her, it was just that she did not have any
friends from the same world. In fact, she was able to make many
friends at her workplace. If at least one of them had lived in the
area near Sasazuka Hatagaya, she would not have needed to put up
with the humiliation she received last night.Still, itd be bad if
you dont cancel your cards, right?I already canceled them. Its
temporary though. I was told I could do that over the phone.I see.
Then you can decide where we go. Ill treat our grief-stricken Emi
to lunch today!Thats okay. You dont need to do that.As they
conversed, the bell signaling the start of work rang.Emi checked
her company e-mail on the PC assigned to her. Notes for that day
were on there.There were already booths displaying incoming
signals.As a subsidiary of Docodemo, the queries received were
undoubtedly phone related. There was an e-mail from that morning
stating that phone reception would be down in a part of the area
near the citys center because of electromagnetic interference.If
there were any issues, they would be sent here. It seems that the
other booths were thinking the same thing as Rikas sigh could be
heard.When Emi put her computer screen on standby, she immediately
received a call. An elderly person was having trouble understanding
the terminology in the provided manual; the calls usually were
related to things like this. After politely explaining it to the
person and ending the call, another call came in five minutes
later. It was transferred from another booth and attached was a
foreign language code.The unfortunate people in this department
completely relied on Emi to handle foreign language support.She
picked up the phone and it seemed to be a Chinese person. The
person stated that he could not read the manual and called the
number listed in it instead.She continued to respond to these calls
in quick succession and before she noticed, it was already
approaching lunch break. The number of queries trickled down as it
approached noon,Aaaargh, jeez, theres way too many complaints
today!In the next booth over, Rika groaned.At least put some effort
into understanding it yourself, you damn geezer!Rika, who was
engaged in an hour long battle with a middle aged man over a
difficult manual, had a stiff smile as she repeatedly banged on her
desk.So, aside from the bank, where else are you going?HmEmi had
rejected lunch invitations with her colleague due to her need to
keep watch over Maou. She was suddenly overcome with rage and so
indignantly proclaimed.No, just the bank is fine!Kakui[2]as well,
right? You need to cancel those cards too. After that, we can go to
the okonomiyaki store near Kakui! There shouldnt be a line right
about now so we should be able to get in without having to
wait.Roger, wait a bit. The closest bank around here is huh?Another
foreign language code call made its way to Emis booth.Ugh. Talk
about terrible timing right before the lunch break!Nothing we can
do about it. Time for work.The timing and the number of people on
lunch break was decided based on the number of people who came into
work on that day. If someone was unfortunate enough to be stuck
with a customer, their break would be delayed a little longer.After
calming Rika down, Emi put on her headset and answered the
line.Thank you for your calling. This is Emi Yusa Docodemo custmer
support room officer. How about your[3]Yusa?Yes? Ah, yes.She
unintentionally replied in Japanese.It was a muffled male voice.
The male voice that uttered only two characters of her name was
clearly speaking with Japanese notions.I am Yusa, but...Yusa you
say. It looks like youve completely adapted your life as a Japanese
civilian. Hero Emilia.!Emi gasped. Although she knew Rika may have
noticed her strange behavior, her throat still quivered.May I ask
who this is?Someone that knows of the Demon Lord and the Hero.
Furthermore, someone that plans the elimination of both of you.Emi
had no recollection of this voice.I see, so the one who repeatedly
tried to access last night wasIt was beyond my expectations that
both the Hero and Demon Lord would join forces.It was indeed an
unfortunate development.Kukuku, I suppose so. Either way, you can
think of me as an assassin from Ente Isla. Consider yesterday night
a little greeting.While she could not carelessly pinpoint who the
other party was, the man on the phone blurted out something
outrageous.The elimination of the Demon Lord who crossed over to
the other world and the Hero Emilia. That is the mission bestowed
upon me and the will of Ente Isla.What did you say!?Emi, Emilia,
was unable to hide her shock.Why would Ente Isla, which should have
become peaceful under the jurisdiction of humans, want to erase
her?.W, we would have to investigate the matter before we can give
you a replyKuku Investigation of the matter you say. Im interested
in how you plan to investigate the matter of the Demon Lord and
Hero both fleeing with their tail in between their legs from that
level of attack.It was a dark, vile voice that reverberated from
the depths of darkness. Emi had felt it. It was a demon. She
suddenly cooled her head and regained her composure as the
Hero.Emilia Justina replied resolutely.All of the Four General
Demons should have been eliminated save for Alsiel. If youre from
the Demon World, who are you?Claiming that it is the will of Ente
Isla will not shake me. I will not pay heed to the words of
demons.I see. Its a shame that you wont believe me. Whatever the
case, well be meeting soon.The line was cut without any further
words.Emi let out a big sigh and took off her headset.Rika, who was
sitting next to her, stared at her blankly, wondering what Emi was
talking about and what kind of call she had. Emi said just one
thing to Rika.There really are a lot of different kinds of people
out there.Y-Yeah.Although her eyes still looked confused, Rika
evidently decided against prying any further.And so, it was finally
the afternoon. Emi smiled at Rika, who was still slightly confused
from earlier, and said this.Sorry. So what now? Do you want to just
go get lunch? The bank is probably packed by now.Right If Emis fine
with it, then, sure.After heading to the locker room, Emi placed
her cellphone, bank book, and seal in her small tote bag. Just as
she was about to go out, her cellphone began to ring.Her heart
skipped a beat. She put up a brave front but it seems that the
mysterious figure who had called earlier intended to cast a shadow
over Emilias everyday life in Japan.Phone?YeahWhen she looked at
her phones screen, it was a number she was not familiar with. It
came from the inner city.Not going to pick up?Im getting a bad
feeling about this.The phone continued to ring. It looks like she
will have to answer it.Hello?Hello, is this Yusa Emis phone
number?Emi got less tense. It was a different voice from earlier
and it sounded like a good natured middle-aged man.Yes, this is
her. May I ask who this is?It was an unexpected reply.I apologize
for taking up your time as you are busy, but I am from the Yoyogi
Police Department.Huh?
In the waiting room she was guided to, Emi waited in irritation.
It looked like the wrinkles on Emis young face were deeply carved
in.Emi's mood emitted an unpleasant aura, almost as if it was
visible to the naked eye, that could have reached the female
officer stationed as the receptionist at to the front entrance of
the Yoyogi Police Station.Thank you for the wait.Before long, a
police officer came into the room and greeted Emi. Because of her
current mental state, she did not return the officers greeting.I
apologize for having you take the time to come down here. For now,
these are just formalities.I see.Eeh, please excuse me as I check
your identification papers Okay. If you could write your address
and full name here and sign itWhy, of all days, did I have to bring
my insurance card and seal today. I was supposed to only use them
for reissuing my cash card too.The documents looked like they were
going to rip as Emi signed her name. She twisted the seal on the
red ink pad without breaking it and with the force that could
pierce through the desk, she stamped the documents.Whether he knew
what was going on in Emis mind or not, as a citizen of good faith,
he continued to smile until the end despite noticing her slight
agitation.Now, the formalities for your background should be all
set. Maou and Ashiya should be waiting in another room, so you all
are free to go home now. However, should something come up, we may
ask you more questions again.Im not going home together with
them!Emi barked at the officer.
Weeell, sorry about that. We didnt have anyone else you see.I
really didnt want to depend on the likes of you for this
anyway.Maou and Ashiya shamelessly spoke out at the front entrance
of the police station.I was freaking out like crazy when the
detective came to our apartment. To think they could track us from
just our bicycle, the Japanese police aint half bad.But its like we
thought, the Hero was lying about her age.Right? If youre underage,
youd need a guardians consent and two other guarantors to rent out
an apartment. If she was going to lie about something, I knew she
would register herself as over twenty.. Still, dont you normally do
a lower age for these things?Rather, why mackerel in the first
place?[4]Who the hell cares about that!Upon hearing her scream,
Maou and Ashiya covered their ears and shrank backwards.Why! Why do
I Why do I have to!Emi shook with rage.Why do I, the Hero, have to
go out of my way to be the Demon Lords benefactor!?I-Idiot! Youre
too loud!Misplaced laughter floated about from the surrounding
people watching them. Maou pushed Emi out of the police station.We
couldnt help it! There wasnt anyone else!We could have asked
MgRonalds manager Miss Kisaki but although my Lord was a victim,
itd be problematic if he was fired because he was related to the
police incident.Well, Miss Kisaki isnt that kind of person but I
didnt want to cause any trouble for her.But Emi was not one to
listen to those kinds of excuses. In the first place, listening to
the Demon Lords every complaint was not a Hero's duty.Whats with
that! So youre fine with causing me trouble instead!Well, yeah, its
common sense for the Demon Lord to trouble the Hero, right?What do
you think youre saying with that face; Emi thought as she scratched
her head.Howd you find my number!? You didnt look through my phone
last night, did you?Like Id do that! Your phone number was written
down when we went to that police booth that one time!Even so, would
you normally call me for things like this!?There wasnt anyone else,
I said. We dont have any friends here so we couldnt help it. Cmon,
we let you stay the night and all.Grr!Speaking of which, are those
your work clothes? Its kinda funny seeing the Hero as an OL[5].Who
cares about that!Emi tore off the ribbon from her blouse and held
it against her head.Calm down Emilia. As the Hero, this is very
unsightly.Look whos talking Alsiel! Its only the beginning of the
month and your refrigerator is completely empty! This coming from
the Demon Lords most resourceful general! Why dont you try being
more efficient at shopping!Guuh!Alsiel appeared to have been dealt
a fatal blow to his being as he crumbled on the spot. Even though
its not my fault; he was mumbling things like this.You guys should
watch out too! I got a threatening call at work today! Youre being
targeted as well, Demon Lord! You better be careful, got it!?Say
what?Ignoring Maous question, Emi, with her hand on her hips and
her chest puffed out, pointed at him with her index finger.I warned
you! But dont forget! The one that will defeat the Demon Lord and
bring peace upon Ente Isla will be me, the Hero!Your spirit is
admirable, but Id prefer that you keep in mind that were in
public.The flustered Maou, the crushed and sulky Ashiya, and Emis
immature proclamation as she pointed at Maou.With the cold gazes
from the surrounding policemen and visitors, Emi instantly turned
bright red from neck to ear.A-A-A-Anyways, just be careful! Thats
all I wanted to say!Thanks for the heads up...Ignoring his dull
response, Emi walked away with a quick pace in large steps while
her small tote bag spun in the air.Theyre aiming for both of us?
They even called her too.Maou helped Ashiya, who was still in shock
after being done in by Emi, back to his feet.Hey, get it together
Ashiya.Its... not even my fault... Our house records should have
been completely perfect too...Get a grip! Cmon, lets go back. I
have a promise with Chi after this.Damn it, my day off went to
waste because of the police.Isnt this a good thing? We got to fix
the punctures for free, after all.On the way home from the police
station, Maou complained as he pushed the bicycle that was returned
to him.Maou most certainly did get questioned by the police, but he
was treated no more than just an innocent victim and by no means a
possible criminal suspect.The reason why he abandoned his bicycle
at the intersection was, consequently, this being his greatest
humiliation as the Demon Lord,He didnt know what was going on and
fled on instinct.The officer had deduced the reason as being this
and expressed his sympathies for him. It truly was humiliating.When
the two arrived at their apartment, they were going to discuss how
to deal with the problem from here on.On the night that Emi had
stayed over, Maou received two texts from Chiho and an unknown
sender concerning the earthquakes.Maou responded to both texts. The
unknown sender did not reply but on the other hand, Chihos reply
said,Im not joking and Im not imagining it either, I think an
earthquake is going to happen really soon. ChihoIt looked as if she
was in a hurry and the content seemed oddly questionable. He did
not comprehend the meaning behind appending Chiho and a good amount
of emoticons at the end of a message.After that, she sent
additional texts about how the earthquakes would come really soon
and why she thought that was the case. The reason why Maou was
meeting her this evening was because he figured that they would
need to talk to each other in person so he could get a clearer idea
of what was occurring.So, in the end, what did Miss Sasaki say?She
could hear voices.Huh?A mans voice was giving her a bizarre warning
or something.What could that mean? You couldnt possibly be saying
that a young high school girl was at the right place at the right
time and became telepathic. This isnt an anime or movie.I thought
of it more as Chi having too many youthful delusions.Maou smiled
bitterly.I was expecting something more exaggerated, but she said
it started around when she first started working at MgRonald.In
other words, youre saying that after getting in touch with you,
abnormal incidents began occurring in her vicinity?Thats a weird
way to put it but we can presume that to be the case. Apparently,
the ringing in her ears is getting worse and the earthquakes seem
to be only getting stronger around her. While I might look like
this, I am the lord of the Demon World, right?Youre right. Despite
how you look indeed.Besides, if I was how I was before, Id end up
affecting the surrounding living things just by being there, me
being the Demon Lord and all.If people, who were unaware of the
context, were to listen in, they would find Maou to be the one full
of youthful delusions.So why are the other MgRonald staff members
unaffected?Who knows? Its possible that the people in question just
havent realized it or maybe what Chi said could be a
misunderstanding. A little after the magical bullets were shot at
us, Emi also received a threatening phone call as well, you know?
We dont know who the enemy is, but its possible they may be
pressuring us while investigating who we are. In the worst caseIts
possible that Miss Sasaki may a vanguard of the enemy?I dont even
want to consider that. Whatever the case, it just means we need to
avoid missing any small possibilities.I understand. However allow
me to accompany you. It would be more advantageous to have more
watchful eyes in the event that you are attacked again like last
night.So you say, but I bet you just want to see Chi.Maou gave
Ashiya a nasty look, but Ashiya snorted in disdain.Indeed, because
if I do not keep you in check, you will more than likely disregard
the fact that our bank is devoid of funds and try to show off by
treating Miss Sasaki to various things. I also need to take speedy
measures against those who might appear and discover you. We cannot
have our enemies spouting the Demon Lord was on a date with a high
school girl behind your back.Even the almighty Demon Lord could
only stand in silence before flawless logic.So, where and when will
you be meeting and when will you be going home?What are you, my
mom!? She said she had club activities today so were meeting at
five at the east exit of Shinjuku.Looks like we still have time.
Well then, let us be on our way.Huh?Maou crocked his head sideways
as Ashiya elatedly dressed himself up, ready to go out once more
despite having just arrived home.Were going shopping and to the
barber. You may be Demon Lord Satan, but do you plan on going on a
date as you are in your UNISLO clothes and unkempt hair?Nothing
wrong with my hair and my clothes. Were just going to talk a little
over tea and itll be goodbye after that! We dont need to go through
the troubleA high school girl at that age has worries that she
wouldnt talk about outside her group of close friends. Not even to
her parents as well! Yet, she wants to talk with you so I hope you
understand what I may be getting at.With him being so incessant
about it, there was no way Maou could feign ignorance.I-I
understand, yes.Good. I most certainly dont want some little human
girl to think that my master doesnt pay any attention to what he
wears on his off time. You must keep your dignity in mind as well
for any occasion. Your clothes may be rundown but your heart is no
less dignified. Clothes make a person.Maou, who was facing Ashiyas
back as he gallantly exited the front entrance, screamed at
him.Apologize to the number one growing apparel company UNISLO and
me!
Emi works as the receptionist on the weekends and holidays up
until five and clocks out thirty minutes after that.Because of Maou
and Ashiya completely turning Emis afternoon upside down, Emi's
brilliant exterior was left in shambles in which the signs of
concern did not leave the face of her worrying neighbor, Rika.Hey,
why dont you hurry on home and rest today?Yeah, I think Ill do just
that.Im not sure what happened, but cheer up okay?Thank youEmis
response was lackluster.After Rika saw Emi off in the evening at
the congested Shinjuku, Emi was swept along with the human moving
wave.It was pathetic that she had to vouch for her enemys identity.
She went along with the ways of society and before she knew it, the
Demon Lord was registered as a similar existence to her through
official documents.It truly was a disgrace.The ticket gate to the
Keio Line was at the west exit of Shinjuku. Emi usually took the
subways from the east exit because she could avoid traffic lights
and human congestion. However, for the entire day, Emi could not
help but see the immediate stairs leading to the subways as a
gateway to Hell....No more.When she descended into the subway, Emi
was about to overlook the individual who stood at the pillar past
the line of shops and restaurants at the corner of eyes because she
was so tired. However, this act would only have served to trample
upon her pride as the Hero. As she scolded herself for being so
weak, she approached the individual from behind and pulled his
shoulder.What are you doing at a place like this, Ashiya?Awaaah!If
one were to look at Alsiel's human figure in the middle of a city,
he was one head taller than most.E-E-E-Emilia...Its Yusa Emi. Are
you lacking self-awareness since youre calling my actual name in
front of other people? Mr. Ashiya?G, grr.Ashiya moaned with a
complicated expression.The way youre acting right now is obviously
suspicious. Its almost like youre following somebody.Guh!Ashiyas
face froze.Oh, bullseye? Looks like the police didnt wring you guys
out hard enough.Emi also noticed that Ashiya was doing the clichd
act of poking his head into the hallway while hiding the rest of
his body with the pillar. Even children playing tag would be a bit
smarter when they are searching.This has nothing to do with you!
Get lost!Judging from that panicky response, it looked like Ashiya
was caught at a bad time.Emis intuition told her that she could not
leave him alone.Oh, is that something you should be saying to your
benefactor?Damn you! How dare you use that little act as
leverage!Demons sure are ungrateful. Besides, regardless of my
generosity, do you think the Hero like me would leave you to your
own devices?I dont, but at least spare me here!You think Id spare
you despite knowing your actual demon self?Emi decided to ignore
Ashiya, proceeding to check the hallway that Ashiya was peeking
into.Ah, h-hey!Emi pushed the bewildered Ashiya back and when she
took a look, directly in front of the position that Ashiya was
gazing from was a small caf. It was a chain caf that could be found
anywhere, but at the front window seats were...Wait a mi...Emi
swallowed her breath.Aaaaagh, my lord, I truly apologize...Ashiya
lamented behind her.A-A-Alsi... Ashiya! Whats going on over
there?Who knows! Think for yourself!What should I think about,
huh!?It was a shocking development. Maou and the MgRonald employee
high school girl who he called Chi were having a pleasant chat in
the caf! This looked nothing more than a date. Maou looked like he
had a complete makeover into a trendy and stylish man from a
featured male adult magazine. It was a rarely seen transformation
that looked like it came straight from an after-before variety
program.Y-You guys!W-What is it?Ashiya shrank back from Emis
intimidating expression.What do you plan on doing to that girl, you
scum!?Sc...!Cruel words that normally would not be spoken by Emi,
both as a woman and the Hero, left Ashiya standing in shock.The
Demon Lord and a demon are taking out a high school girl around and
keeping a watch on her? You damn perverts!Perve... E, Emili... No,
Yusa! I ask that you liste...I was stupid to think that you guys
would start living a serious life after coming to Japan!Y-You
misunderstand! I dont know what you may be thinking of, but my lord
is most certainly not thinking of doing anything with
ill-intentions.!Like thered be a Demon Lord without any
ill-intentions!Emi was correct in all sense of the word.Im begging
you already, just listen to me!Ashiya, in a half-crying state,
began to explain the circumstances to a furious Emi.The high school
girl in question, named Sasaki Chiho, was a junior coworker at
Maous part-time job who asked Maou for advice. Hoping to gain more
clues to restoring his magical powers, he accepted her request. He
most certainly was not planning to harm her in any way; for a
demon, this was a sincere explanation.Emi was not convinced of
Ashiyas words, but she gave up on the idea of impulsively attacking
the Demon Lord.L-Looks like you understand now.Ashiya asked wearily
while looking at her.All I know now is that my nemesis has fallen
into a pathetic state.Mmgh... I-It is shameful.Well, I apologized.
But why a date? Wouldnt talking it over the phone or text have been
good enough?I thought that as well. But it seems they wanted to
talk in person so we cant get around it. However, having taken a
look for myself, it seems that that Sasaki girl holds feelings for
my lord.Clearly.Hm, you dont think anything of that?For a demon
like Ashiya, this important fact was readily accepted by Emi and
when he asked her with a surprised tone, her eyes had a resenting
look.Is there something about my normal response to be
unsatisfying?N-No, thats not the case... I just find it extremely
arrogant of that lowly human girl to hold feelings of love towards
the Demon Lord...I, on the other hand, dont understand why such a
cute girl like her is taken in by that unreliable, lowly Maou.Y-You
dare speak ill of my lord!I am the Hero after all. In any case,
there isnt a woman out there who wouldnt understand whats going on.
Its a bit hard to understand why at this distance, but thats a one
piece dress thats all the rage this summer, her hair seems prepared
just moments before, and those shoes are sparkling new.W-What? I-Is
that so?Thirty minutes prior, Ashiya had not noticed any of this at
all during his tailing.I imagine men wouldnt understand. The
material brings out the freshness of summer, and the well-fitted
dress emphasizes her body lines..."Suddenly, Emi cut off her words.
Staring at Chihos figure from outside the window, Emi
muttered.Whats wrong, Yusa?...They sure are big.Emi instinctively
placed her hands on her chest.What is?Ashiya tilted his head to the
side and inquired, bringing Emi back to her senses.Eh? N-Nothing at
all! Even if theyre big, they dont have any use in battle
anyway!Huh?Armor can be made cheaper if theyre smaller and they
wont get in the way either!...What are you talking about?Nothing!
P-putting that aside, that Maou looks rather good from here. Hes
definitely wearing something better than the usual UNISLO
outfit!She forcefully steered the topic in another direction in
order to get her mind out of the gutter. Although Ashiya had
doubted Emis peculiar behavior, it looked like he was rather
pleased in hearing his master being showered with praises.
I arranged it based on a magazine I read. I wouldnt want some
lowly human girl to think that my master is out of fashion. I do
temporary part time jobs for occasions like these.Emi was exhausted
to the point that she could have dropped her bag....So, how is it?
Did you get anything from her story?Who knows. Im only following
behind them to check for suspicious people in the area.Youre
clearly the most suspicious person right now. Youre a demon so
couldnt you listen in on the conversation from here?With all things
being said, Alsiel did serve as one of the four generals under the
Demon Lord. For Emi who knew of Ashiyas true identity, it was a
natural question. But,What are you saying? My demon powers need
magical energy. With no magical energy, I cant possibly have a
monstrous ability like super hearing.At some point during Ashiyas
boastful yet pathetic words, Emi had ignored him and was
thinking.It would be troublesome if the Demon Lord finds a clue to
restoring his magical energy. Emi was still looking for ways to
replenish her Sacred Power and if they were to restore a large
amount of their powers back, then she was uncertain whether she
could fight head on with him.Even so, if she did manage to defeat
Maou as he was now, she was not sure whether she would be able to
return to Ente Isla or hide the events from the officials of this
country with her remaining powers.After all, unlike Ashiya, Emi can
sense the magical powers that identify Maou as the Demon Lord. It
would not be far-fetched to think that Maou was keeping his
remaining magical powers hidden.In that case, there was only one
option.Should the dangerous entity before her, the Demon Lord and
his followers, come across the means to restore his magical powers,
she will destroy it before they get to it. It was the only option
for her but it was better than just standing around and twiddling
her thumbs.Ashiya.W-What?Theres no point in standing here and
watching them. Lets go.Go where?Inside the caf theyre in,
obviously. If youre suspicious of her, then you should at least
pick a better place to listen in on their conversation while you
keep an eye on the surroundings. You have to do at least that much
to call it tailing.W-What did you say!? How would I explain to my
lord such a bold movhey WAIT!With her slightly forceful logic, Emi
dragged an unwillingly Ashiya by the neck into the caf.
This is thirty minutes prior to Emi finding Ashiya. The great
Demon Lord Satan was going to meet with a high school girl, Sasaki
Chiho who was his junior coworker at work, in front of ARITA in
Shinjuku.Oh? Did you cut your hair, Chi?Yes! I just went and got it
shortened! How is it?Maou, who had perfect attendance at work and
who also trained Chiho, understood well enough the delicate change
in Chiho, but he had not the slightest idea of the determination
needed to cut ones hair. But, since Maou had only seen Chiho in her
school uniform and MgRonalds uniform, her let-down hair and the
outlines of her one piece dress gave off a refreshing feeling.Yeah,
it looks good on you.Yay!Chiho responded back honestly while making
a guts pose.I thought you were going to come in your school uniform
though. You had club activities today, didnt you?Maou stated so
without much thought, but the guts posing Chiho blew up her
cheeks.Of course I wont be wearing it! Whatever the reason may be,
there's no way I'd wear a lame uniform when I finally get to have
some tea with Maou! Also, if Im caught walking around in my uniform
with a well-dressed man, theres going to be some protective service
trouble, you know?Chiho gave him a warning with a suddenly upset
tone. Maou's eye glossed over as he did not think Chiho's uniform
looked that bad.I thought you were going to come clad in only
UNISLO too, Maou, but you look cooler than usual today.She did not
mean any harm, but the way she had said it tugged at Maou, who gave
a strained laugh.My roommate was blabbering about how going on a
date in UNISLO was no good.Its not like UNISLO is bad or anything
but you have to make sure you match your appearance from head to
toe! But, wait, you consider this a date!? Yay!Whats with the yay!?
Whats wrong with UNISLO? Is this really a date? Maou nodded vaguely
without knowing the answer to those questions.Anyways, youll be
going home around dinner time, right?Well, thats true...Chiho
nodded grumpily. She was nothing more than a high school student so
she could not help but agree to it. Although she was with Maou, she
realized that high school girls spending their time fooling around
in Shibuya and Harajuku was a very common thing to see.So what
should we do? We definitely cant just stand here and talk. I dont
eat out often so the only place I know where we can relax and talk
is MgRonald.It seemed that Chiho may have predicted that, but she
gave it some thought and replied.Okay, then lets go to the Dotouru
caf. Its cheap and we can take it easy there.If she was referring
to Dotouru, then he at least knew that existed.Dont worry! Since
youre the one who accepted my request, Ill pay for you today!They
were words of consideration for Maou whose impoverished aura could
be seen with the naked eye, but, as an adult, and on top of that,
as the Demon Lord, he had his pride as well.Dont underestimate
adults. I can treat you out no problem.It was as Ashiya had
predicted.Well then, lets get going.The nearest Dotouru was in
walking distance past the Yasukuni crossroad in the subway shopping
mall.Ah... Ma, Maou.Hm?Just as Maou was about to head off, Chihos
voice stopped him.Um... Err.What? Something
wrong?...Hand.Hand?Chiho casted a downward look momentarily and for
some reason, she turned a little red and looked like she was
enduring something. Maou thought she was going to scream something
out with a loud voice, but it turned out to be just one
thing.Can... we hold... hands?Despite being so full of energy
earlier, her voice abruptly became bashful. Maou tilted his head.Is
that it? Thats fine with me.Because he nonchalantly grabbed Chihos
right hand, she was caught completely off guard, turned bright red,
and stiffened up.Whats wrong?Eh, ah, er, yay! Ah, its, its nothing!
Thank you very...The crowd is pretty big. Gotta do this much or
else we'd get separated....Chihos dynamically changing face made it
hard for Maou to read into what her intentions were. Her range of
expressions hectically changed like a slideshow: an expression that
looked like she fell into a coma, a surprised expression, a happy
expression, and an expression that indicated she had given up on
something....I know, riiiight. Somehow, I saw this coming.Maou took
a glance at Chihos face. When Chiho opened her eyes, she tried to
make some distance between them. But, with their hands clamped
together, it only helped to wind them back up together.Youre acting
pretty weird today, you know?I-Im sure thats because I have a lot
of worries!She turned away frantically and pulled Maou along while
walking.Oh right, I guess thats true.Maou just swallowed that
excuse and,
Haa...As Maou listened to her complicated sigh, he observed
her.From a glance, there did not seem to be any magical phenomena
occurring around Chiho. There were no signs of the life around him
mutating and despite being in direct contact with Chiho, there was
no response he could sense from the sensation of his hands to the
remaining magical powers he had left as the Demon Lord.The only
noticeable change was that her body temperature was greater than
that of his own and her heart beat was faster than normal.Because
of this, he had to consider the possibility that someone from
outside might have been influencing her. It may have been the enemy
who attacked Maou and Emi or it may possibly could have been a
completely unrelated magical phenomena that was influencing
Chiho.If what all Chiho had said was true, supposing that this was
the assumption,In any case, at the moment, he could not inquire
anything about her odd behavior until he heard what she had to
say.At the east exit of Shinjuku, there was an underground shopping
district in the heart of the JR Shinjuku station. Having descended
down the closest stairs, as the current time was in between the
afternoon and evening, the food district was not
crowded.Fortunately, the Dotouru caf was also near empty. Maou
chose a seat next to the window, making it easier for Ashiya to
observe from outside, but it may have been difficult to be on the
lookout directly in front of the store with the shops in the
district.Small glimpses of Ashiya, who hid himself behind a pillar,
could be seen some distances away.So, just to get this going, I
wanted to hear from you directly in detail about earlier.Ah,
yes.After Chiho ordered her frozen latte and Maou his blended
coffee, Maou started the conversation.Remember how I mentioned that
the ringing in my ears got worse around the time I began working at
MgRonald? At first, I thought it was accumulated stress that was
building up because I wasnt used to working. But, Maou, Mrs. Kisaki
and the other people are really kind. There havent been any strange
customers and Im not worried about school either so I just thought
that maybe Im not feeling too well.Maou nodded attentively while
keeping vigilant of his surroundings, making sure to pay special
attention to Chiho as well.I also mentioned how there was this
really strong earthquake at my place. I thought that was weird but
last night, out of nowhere I heard a voice despite no one being
there.About that voice, what did it feel like? Is it like how were
talking right now and youll hear it directly in your ear?Chiho
placed her finger on her chin and made a brooding gesture.Umm,
Maou, do you usually watch movies and anime?...Sometimes.As it
turns out, since there was no television in his apartment, he had
never actually seen them, but for the conversation to proceed, he
pretended to have seen them.Theres an expression like telepathy,
right? Its like you can hear an echo of the sort. I wonder if its
something like that.Huh?It looked like Chiho had suddenly
remembered something as she quickly followed up.The voice seemed
like it was in a rush and it sounded like a cheerful older man. It
was like a badly tuned radio but I could hear it normally through
my ears.Really!?Eh, yes...Because Maou had reflexively responded,
Chiho nodded in surprise.The words the voice spoke were really
simple too. Itd say stuff like Aah, can you hear me?Usually people
would panic just from hearing the voice of a man they did not know,
but apparently Chiho had lent the voice her ear.I unconsciously
responded, but it seems like my voice didnt reach them because they
kept asking Can anyone hear me?. Since I couldnt do much, I decided
to just wait for the voice to say something again and the voice
quickly followed up: Well, thats fine, the people who can actually
hear this are limited so Ill just go ahead and say it. There should
be a lot of natural phenomena occurring over in that world. There
might be a big one coming soon, so watch out. Well head over there
as soon as the opportunity arises.Chiho cut off her words at that
moment and sipped her frozen latte....Is that all?Thats all. Im not
sure what that all meant and I definitely thought it was just a
mistaken phone call. I wanted them to at least know that it wasnt
my address and tried telling them youve got it wrong, youve got it
wrong! but at the same time, it seems the tuning got mixed up again
as the voice got quicker. Ever since then, the ringing in my ears
stopped.So thats why you came to the conclusion that the recent
earthquakes are the aforementioned natural phenomena.It took a
while for me to come to that conclusion though. I was really
surprised by that voice so I didnt think about it for some
time.Chiho gave a bitter smile as she sipped on her latte that
started to melt during the time she was engrossed in her
conversation.On the other hand, Maou, who gave no thought to his
lukewarm coffee, fell into deep thought. The voice that Chiho had
received was a type of mental induction called idea link. It was a
technique that unified the consciousness of humans who had varying
languages in their respective worlds. This gave them control over a
conventional notion which allowed them to respond and understand
each other through their own individual languages.When Maou and
Ashiya had first arrived in Japan, they had not actually understood
the actual meanings of Japanese, but rather, they used their
magical energy to convert the Japanese into notions that they could
understand.Since this world contains a gate that allows crossing to
other words, then the probing technique called sonar must exist as
well. Sonar is a technique that probes its destination by analyzing
the reflected magical energy wavelengths, which are produced by the
invisible magical energy explosions upon activation. The magical
energy explosions tend to manifest in various forms and shapes.It
was more than sufficient to consider the earthquakes as the result
of the sonar hitting Earth, particularly Japan.The sonar likely
originated from Ente Isla assassins looking to eliminate them. It
turns out that the explosions that resulted from the sonar were
coincidentally near Chihos home, although the chances of that were
actually quite low. That would be the most probable explanation as
to why only the big earthquakes occurred around her home.It was
possible to deduce that the destination of the sonar was looking
for Maou, Ashiya, and the Hero. Thinking further, on the night he
was with Emi, just before they were attacked, the floor had shook
slightly. Could it be that the assailant was actually hidden nearby
and the reason why he shot the sonar was to see Maous magical
energy response?It seems like things are going to happen faster
than he thought.As far as their appearance and life energies were
concerned, Maou and Ashiya were thoroughly Japanese people but at
their very core, their existence as demons had not changed.
Nonetheless, he carelessly allowed the hidden enemy to get closer
to him.The words, a big one will be coming, that Chiho heard was
likely referring to an individual with an adequate amount of energy
who plans on showing his real strength.The enemy was nearby,
waiting for some kind of opportunity.But... Im really glad I
consulted with you Mao.Eh?Maou was absorbed in thought but snapped
back to reality from Chiho's voice.Thank you very much. For
believing me.Nah, its nothing much.It is something. Normal adults
wouldnt seriously listen to this kind of talk. Admittedly, I was
afraid of not knowing what to do if Maou felt the same way as well
after seeing my mail.I guess its something like that, huh. What
about your parents or friends?Theres no way I could talk to them
about this. A high school student suddenly blurting out something
like this would go beyond laughing; they'd get worried instead.
Theyd wonder 'whether this child could differentiate between
reality and fantasy or not?Hmm, is that really so.With Chiho
looking down, Maou tried to offer her words of encouragement,
but,Well, if you need me at all, you can come and talUGUKYBUYU!!A,
are you okay? Whats wrong!?Chiho extended a cup of water to Maou,
who suddenly started coughing. While he drank his water, he could
not get his mind off of the scene that was looming in the corner of
his vision with his eyes desperately trying to rationalize the
situation.Why!? Why did Emi and Ashiya come into the store
together!?Maou?Uueoh, no, Im fine. How should I say this? I havent
done anything wrong.Huh?Nah, its nothing. Consulting with my junior
is a very commonplace thing to do and theres no ill-wil