✦ ✦ ✦
“That is still much more sincere of you as a person than saying nothing.”
“Yeah. As a person.”
At that, the two demons exchanged a smile.
“And if I have your approval, that’s a shot of confidence for me.”
“I am honored, my liege.”
“So think of Emi’s demands as common sense, too, all right? It’d be supporting Alas Ramus, after all.”
“If it was anyone but Emilia demanding it, I wouldn’t be so stubborn like this! It is her presence that irks me!”
“Yeah. We both really have become human in that way, huh?”
“That is an even more horrid thing to say!”
“Hey, what’re you planning to do about Rika Suzuki, in the end?”
“Huh?! Why bring that up all of a sudden?!”
“Whoa. Rare to see you so flustered like that.”
“Of course I am. I never expected that topic for a single moment!”
“Tell me. Maybe I’ll learn something from it.”
“There is nothing at all you can learn from that, my liege! Besides, I believe I have fully turned her down by now! And yet, look at her!”
“You don’t have to shout about it. The Azure Scarves are gonna give you looks.”
This was the seat of government for the entire Eastern Island, built over generations by its emperors. Nobody ever climbed up to the roof of Heavensky Castle unless they were there on official roofing-related business. And now two grown demons were lying on it…talking about this.
“Ms. Suzuki is merely interpreting things to suit her aims. I have no intention of ‘doing’ anything about her.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right.”
“What about you, my liege?”
“…Me, huh?”
“Because that is a topic you surely don’t want to die leaving unaddressed?”
“No, you’re right, but…”
“One even less solvable with power or money than your other crimes. That, indeed, is a problem of the heart.”
“I don’t need you telling me.”
“You’re the one who guided me to the question.”
He was right. Maou regretted stirring that hornet’s nest. But maybe that’s what he was aiming for in the first place. Ashiya was correct—if he didn’t provide an answer, it’d show a severe lack of faith and sincerity. The moon was already on the move. Things were rapidly coming to an end. He didn’t have much time left.
“But do we really need to settle everything at this point? That’s not too sincere, is it?”
“I would advise you to stop trying to run away, my liege.”
The reply came like a whip. Maou had no leg to stand on.
“Ugh… Hey, Ashiya?”
“Yes?”
“It was really stupid of us, wasn’t it? Trying to conquer the world when we let these human women have their way with us.”
“It is common in history to see absolute rulers act subservient to their family, friends, or benefactors. Those are two different matters.”
“If I can’t see them as separate, I guess I’m sunk, huh?”
“Please, Your Demonic Highness, pull yourself together! You are a functioning member of society!”
“This is such a bummer…”
“My liege! Please, remember your dignity as you led all of us as Devil King!”
“Now I wonder how I even acted like that. It’s crazy what your environment can do to you.”
“Lord Camio would cry if he heard that.”
Maou, hands covering his face, was looking smaller and smaller. Ashiya smiled and patted him on the back.
“It is all right. Apart from the question of Ms. Sasaki, Sadao Maou has earned himself more than enough social standing. There are many who appreciate you. And I am sure…everyone will understand.”
“…Yeah,” Maou replied, breathing through his hands. “Now I’m sure of it. If you weren’t around, the Devil King’s Army would’ve been annihilated long ago.”
“You praise me far too much, my liege.”
Emi, Suzuno, and Chiho… Everything that everyone besides he and Ashiya had always thought and said—now, for the first time, Maou understood it.
“We really do need to settle all this.”
“We do.”
“Compared to that, waging a war against heaven seems easy.”
“It always was, I imagine. Our primary mission was to give Alas Ramus a birthday present.”
“Weren’t we talking about a Christmas gift at first?”
“Now that you mention it, we were. It’s already been half a year, hasn’t it? Time flies like an arrow.”
“Hell, put it that way, and it feels like just yesterday that I was fighting your Iron Scorpions.”
Everything was in the past now.
“I will need to make several trips between Ea Quartus and Efzahan. I will be on hand for a conference to discuss rebuilding the eastern Central Continent with the Federated Order and Eight Scarves, and after that, I will arrange it so I can meet with Bell to adjust plans. Are you going home now, my liege?”
“Yeah, I got work tomorrow. I’m heading straight home from here.”
“Then, Your Demonic Highness, may I ask you for a favor?”
Ashiya looked at Maou with earnest eyes as he stood up.
“If you could, please take our suits and dress shirts to the dry cleaner as soon as you can. If you can prepare a formal outfit for Urushihara as well, I would appreciate it.”
Ashiya normally washed and ironed their dress shirts at home. He rarely let Maou use the dry cleaner, even during his managerial training—but he immediately opted for it here. That was how serious things were.
“All right. I’ll send the request once I’m sure when everyone will be there.”
“Very well. Then for now, let us have Lord Camio watch over the enemy instead of worrying about it ourselves…and let us decide on a date to settle matters from our lives in Japan, and a date for the final battle.”
Maou and Ashiya both recalled that fateful day when they were tossed into Tokyo in the middle of the night. That, and the person who first took them in.
“No matter what, before we attack heaven… I need to apologize to Chi at her house for continually getting her involved in this…and we need to apologize for stealing ten thousand yen from her dad right after we fell to Japan!”
✦ ✦ ✦
It was half past seven in the morning, just a few minutes since opening time, when the first customer entered the door, sending the bell above it chiming. Maou and Kaori looked up, only to find a familiar face. Kaori, who happened to be wiping down a window by the door, went over to their guest first.
“Hello and good morning! You’re the first customer today.”
“Hey, Shoji. Glad to hear that. I got my members card… Oh?”
They raised an eyebrow after spotting Maou at the register.
“Hey there, regular. The manager’s coming in this afternoon. I’m the main guy this morning.”
Maou, who was crouched behind the counter flipping through order forms, stood up and lightly waved at Sariel, dressed in a loose polo shirt and chinos.
“Oh, is she? Well, thanks in advance.”
“Sure. It’s hot out. C’mon in. And good morning to you, too, Yuzuki. Hot, isn’t it?”
Maou waved at the small girl cradled in Sariel’s right arm as well.
“…Yeh.”
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✦ ✦ ✦
The two-year-old who Maou called Yuzuki lightly nodded.
“You’ve sure grown since last I saw you.”
“Oh, has she? I don’t think she’s changed that much in the two months since I brought her in.”
“Maybe not to the parent, but to someone who only sees her once a month, there’s a huge difference, you know? Anyway, you want the breakfast special?”
“Please. And Yuzuki will have a child-sized bowl of udon. She’s been eating nothing but noodles lately.”
“All right. You can wait upstairs.” He motioned toward the staircase deeper in the café. “Hey, Shoji, Mr. Kisaki’s having the usual.”
“Sure thing! Here, Mr. Kisaki, take this receipt. I’ll come up to see you later, okay, Yuzuki?”
With that, Kaori typed “Mitsuki Kisaki”—the first customer of the day—into her tablet. The first floor of Yesodd’s Family Café was the main space, but upstairs, they had a special by-the-hour safe section meant for parents going out with young children—and that section just had its first visitor of the morning.