“So you came here just so we could play a game of telephone with that cranky old woman?”
“What is the issue with that? I would never have a chance to visit the demon realms otherwise. I must say, though, this view is astounding. A far cry from the surface down below.”
Suzuno was showing some curious wonderment at the view as she stood there with Maou, who had all but evacuated to the demon realms two days ago to flee from his memory of Emi. She had a message from Dhin Dhem Wurs, relayed to her via Albert in the Central Continent, and she had already given it to Emi and Emeralda before coming here to tell a third Ente Islan about it.
From the terrace at Devil’s Castle, they could see a gigantic object in the sky. It was night out, and despite usually being covered in storms of red dust, the sky above the realm was filled with twinkling stars and a large blue moon.
Even though they both knew what this moon was, it was hard for a person to describe this dignified sight as a “moon.” No matter how large you knew Earth’s moon to be, it still looked like little more than a disc in the night sky, able to be fit through a circled thumb and forefinger. This moon was a massive presence, taking up over half of one’s vision. It was simple in shape, yet went against any human being’s impression of what a moon should look like—really, it was just a big thing in the air, one that conjured feelings of despair and reminded a person of just how small they really were.
“It is hard to explain, but if I was in the ocean and suddenly ran into a blue whale, I imagine it would be like this.”
“Ah…uh…yeah.”
Maou smiled at the understandable-but-not-really comparison.
“So? If we are this close, can we make it over? And despite being this close, they still have not attacked?”
“Yeah, Ashiya was curious about that, too—and so was Gabriel, for that matter. And Gabriel can’t tell any lies around Amane at this point, y’know. Maybe Raguel, Camael, and Ignora really are all that’s left over there.”
Maou, personally, didn’t think that. This was just conversation. The heavens had free control over Erone at one point, and whoever was inside the space suit that took Alas Ramus from Emi likely had some kind of Sephirah power as well.
“Y’know, though, it’s not like Erone ever acted all that hostile with us. Looking at how Acieth and the angels got along with each other, would they really want to take on a combo like Emi and Alas Ramus?”
“So no matter how one looks at it, none of us can picture the enemy having any decisive advantage here, then? Right. And by the way…”
“Hmm?”
“Why are you so far away?”
“…Oh.”
Maou and Suzuno were watching the night sky from a corridor about halfway up Devil’s Castle, but Maou was using a completely different window from Suzuno. When Suzuno adjusted her position to view the demon realm landscape, Maou jumped even farther away from her.
“The Devil King himself, after all, cleared everyone out because he had a personal conversation to conduct,” she said with a wry smile. “I was expecting some kind of happy news.”
“Please don’t get started with that. I’m serious.”
Maou shifted to another window down, half-panicked. Suzuno, perhaps expecting that, didn’t act offended, her smile growing more genuine.
“Did something happen with Chiho? Or did you have a fight with Emilia?”
“Why do you…”
“Oh, I can surmise. I imagine you cannot even tell Alciel about it, am I right? If I were him, and you started talking about trouble with Chiho or Emilia at this point, I would spend all day upbraiding you about it.”
Suzuno stopped Maou’s would-be defenses cold.
“How to put it? Once I pick up on how you act, you are so easy to read. It impressed me you could serve as the Devil King despite that.”
“Oh, like you have any idea.”
“No? If I am wrong, my apologies. So what did you want? This matter you could not ask anyone else about except me?”
“…”
Suzuno watched Maou, silent and pouting, and she sighed a bit.
“How about we do this, then?”
Maou turned toward Suzuno as she turned her back to him.
“You find it easier to talk when you cannot see my face, right?”
“…Right.”
Maou, understanding what Suzuno wanted to say, turned his own back to her. This, they found, was the best way they had to address each other.
“…But I’m sorry. It’s just, you know, I’m not sure what I should be doing any longer. I’m breaking up.”
“You are?”
“It’s kind of… I must look so pathetic to all you guys lately.”
“To us, you demons have never not looked pathetic.”
“Ah. It all depends on how you put it, huh?”
“And that is the person I love, despite it all.”
Maybe it was the conventional wisdom of human society driving him into guilt, but Suzuno’s words made Maou’s heart fly into action, his blood pressure plummeting.
“So?”
“…I want your opinion, Suzuno. Why do you think demons can convert the fear in human beings into demonic force? All of us, no matter what species we are.”
“How sudden. Well, if Ms. Shiba is correct, that is a by-product of demonic force, holy force, and how they interact with the planet, no?”
“How they interact? So you think it’s some inscrutable thing we’ll never know?”
“I am sure there is some valid physiological reason we have not discovered yet. Think about it. Why are we able to stand on the surfaces of moons and planets? It is thanks to gravity, and while we know what gravity is, how many understand how gravity works between objects, outside of some equations in a book?”
“…Yeah.”
“Many people have heard of terms like ‘brain cell’ and ‘synapse.’ They might have seen schematic diagrams of the brain, and some scientists have even observed the processes that happen when we remember something. But nobody has impartially observed what ‘memory’ looks like, exactly.”
“…Did you see a TV program or something?”
She kept on bringing up examples she must have learned about in Japan, so he couldn’t help but say that.
“So perhaps there is an organ all demons share that detects brain cell activity in humans and absorbs some manner of energy from it. I see no harm in theorizing along those lines.”
“You don’t think?”
“If we can observe and replicate that phenomenon, then even if we cannot determine the cause, we can research and discuss the process and its results. Did you know that, technically speaking, we still can’t fully explain how aircraft are able to fly with Bernoulli’s principle alone?”
“Really? Well, not that it matters now.”
He wasn’t sure how convincing that argument was, but either way, they were getting nowhere, and Maou had to take this somewhere. So he accepted Suzuno’s argument and resolved to make one of his own.
“Anyway, I’ve been through a lot of stuff, and thanks to that, I can’t really come physically near Chiho right now…or you, for that matter.”
“What about Emilia?”
“I… I’m fine with her.”
He caught himself before he added “for now” to the end. Suzuno didn’t comment, noticing it but perhaps deciding Maou was just trying to act strong around Emi as usual.
“And, honestly, even at this distance, I’m not feeling too good. In a way, I objectively understand that, and I really hate it, but…”
“Mmm. I see… Hmm.”
Suzuno suddenly turned back toward Maou, addressing him normally.
“If I were to surprise you with an embrace or the like, what would happen?”
“Huh?!”
“I mean, with the final battle so close at hand, I would never want your health to suffer. If we did not have to think about the future, I would be less willing to hold back.”
“Whoa………… Uh, Suzuno?”
“Hmm?”
“Um, how did you know that? Like, that’s the reason why I haven’t been feeling well?”
“Hmm…?”
Maou was thrown, his words ever so slightly shaky. Suzuno didn’t miss it this time.
“If you are asking me a question like that… Ahh, I see. And that was why you were hesitant talking about Emilia before?”
“Huh?”
“…Hmm.”
“Agh!”
Maou, having his back turned, reacted a beat late. With a light shock, Suzuno’s hand came around behind his back, sending his blood pressure tumbling.
“I simply thought that it maybe was the case. It was a possibility I noticed quite soon after I realized I loved you. If you are a demon who grows more powerful from our fear, I thought, what would happen if we loved you instead?”
“N-no, uh… Suzuno!”
“You asked me why I knew? Well, let me tell you. I am always looking at you, always thinking about you, always together with you, and under those conditions, well near anyone would realize it! Just as I am sure Emilia did.”
Her voice seemed angry, but she released Maou nonetheless, giving him a little kick from behind for effect. It pushed him forward, bringing the distance between them back to how it was when they were turned away from each other.
“So I assume you acted brave around Chiho and said nothing to her, and it caused trouble for Emilia afterward, or the like.”
“H-how do you know that…?”
“Because it is all too familiar to me! You constantly drag your feet with Chiho, and thanks to that, she asks to speak with me so she can dump all her emotional baggage, among other things!”
✦ ✦ ✦
