The white moon was floating in a blue sky, amid the relatively tranquil summer sunlight. It was two in the afternoon, and after leaving the Sasaki house, Maou was walking through the Sasazuka neighborhood with Chiho (pushing her bike), Emi, Alas Ramus, and Acieth. Ashiya, Urushihara, and Suzuno opened up a Gate right in the Sasaki living room, off to Efzahan, the demon realms, and the Central Continent, respectively. That was their ace in the hole for convincing Sen’ichi they weren’t lying, but it seemed like he had accepted their extraordinary story without it.
Once Maou, Emi, Alas Ramus, and Acieth had stepped out the front door, they all gave a deep bow to the family before going away. Chiho was on her way to her test prep center, and they were all chatting with each other, as if there were no assault on heaven to think of at all. Their conversation was mostly about how Acieth was feeling and Alas Ramus’s likes and dislikes.
They wound up talking all the way to Sasazuka Station, where they split up—as if tomorrow would be just as normal and humdrum as yesterday.
“You have the work, yes, Maou? I promise Erone I have snack with him, so I go to Mikitty’s. Bye, big sis!”
Acieth gave Alas Ramus a friendly pinch on the cheek before running off.
“I don’t have any business in Ente Isla today, so I’ll head home. I want to do some of Alas Ramus’s laundry.”
“And I have test prep to go to, but are you going back home to change, Maou?”
“Nah, I got nothing to do at home, so I’ll just head over. It ain’t a crime to report to work lookin’ snappy, huh?”
In just over a week and a half from now, they’d have to stage an all-out attack on the heavens—and yet, this. Or maybe “this” was what everyone wanted the most right now. So Emi and Chiho kept discussing the same old everyday things, as if nothing were amiss.
“You don’t think you should change? If you get any grease on that, Alciel’s gonna yell at you, isn’t he?”
“She’s right. And you’re gonna slip all over the kitchen in those leather shoes.”
“True… Good point.”
Maou’s reaction seemed to indicate he expected as much from these two.
“But I put this suit on and everything…”
Despite that, though, he seemed intent on reporting to work dressed to the nines.
“Will you be late if you go back to change?” Chiho asked.
“No, nothing like that,” he answered airily.
This confused her a bit. She assumed they’d all split up at this point, like they usually did—and Maou wasn’t the sort to care how he looked in public anyway. As long as he didn’t look disgusting or break any laws, any outfit was fine to him. If this suit wasn’t important to him, like it was during managerial training or during this apology today…
“!”
After reaching that thought, it finally dawned on Emi.
The biggest reason why all five of them had gone out of their way to visit the Sasakis was because they weren’t certain they would all survive the assault on heaven. To put it another way, all of them coming together helped a lot to quell their pre-battle anxiety. And right now, Maou was dressed as formally as he could picture, attempting to banish any lingering concerns from his mind.
“Ughh…”
She hated it—how simple he was to understand. This obvious, tactless man.
“Well, stop dragging this on and just go home and change!”
“Huh?”
“Yusa?”
This, too, was Emi’s usual tone of voice.
“Hey, Alas Ramus?”
“Yeh, Mommy?”
“What do you think of Daddy’s suit? Does he look good?”
“Huh? Hey, Emi…”
“I hate it.”
“Alas Ramus?!”
This was, without a doubt, the harshest thing she had ever said to them. It took both Maou and Chiho off guard.
“It smells weird.”
“A-Alas Ramus?!”
“Daddy should smell like fries.”
“Huh?! I—I smell weird? But I took it to the dry cleaner for this and everything…! And I’ve been using this towel to keep the sweat off!”
“But she smells French fries on your hands on your days off. If you smell like detergent or bug spray, she might not like that as much.”
“Aww…”
The sight of Maou acting all pathetic made Emi giggle.
“She’s saying it doesn’t seem right on you. So go change, okay? Your usual UniClo outfits look a lot better, and plus…”
Then Emi looked at Chiho, still unsure how to address Maou after this scathing appraisal from Alas Ramus. Her grin instantly turned into a heartfelt, affectionate smile.
“…I think you’ll get your feelings across better that way.”
“…Ah! E-Emi, you…!”
“Anyway, we’re heading home. Oh, and I’ve been in Ente Isla too long to remember, but if you’re staying in Villa Rosa, you mind picking up your stuff from my place whenever?”
Maou stayed frozen to the spot, Chiho’s eyes darting between them as she tried to ascertain what was going on. Emi just waved instead of giving an answer.
“See you guys later. Thanks for today, Chiho.”
“S-sure…”
“Daddy! Chi-sis! Bye-bye! Study hard!”
Emi, with Alas Ramus waving behind her shoulder, quickly disappeared beyond the station turnstile.
“Um, Maou?”
“…I’m sorry, Chi, can you give me just ten minutes? I’m gonna go change after all.”
“O-okay. I can wait that long, but…”
“I’ll be right back!”
Chiho stood there, listening to the sharp clack of Maou’s shoes as he darted back home. She was worried about how much he’d be sweating at that pace, but she didn’t have to wait long.
“Sorry! I’m back!”
The same old Sadao Maou, in his same old UniClo shirt and pants, was pedaling the same old Dullahan II over to her. Exactly ten minutes had passed.