The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 1 by Satoshi Wagahara Read Free Book Online Page A

voice, as she realized the nature of his tactic.
    “Yeah, I know, Ashiya. Hey, get me a tissue.”
    “The Devil King! You’re in there, too, are you? Give it up and open this door!”
    The doorbell rang incessantly, beating a predictable rhythm. Ashiya paid it no mind.
    “What should we do, Your Demonic Highness?! The Hero is right at our doorstep!”
    “Ugh, I can’t get this bit out of my nose. Yeah, we met yesterday. Sorry I didn’t tell you.”
    “Wh-what?!”
    Maou’s distracted remark as he pinched a nostril shut was enough to stun Ashiya into silence.
    “She attacked me over at that intersection on the way from work. Then someone reported us, so we got taken in by the cops. That’s why I was late last night.”
    “The most humiliating moment of my life! They…they thought I was the Devil King’s
girlfriend
!”
    They could feel the waves of anger radiating from behind the door. Ashiya’s eyes shot toward it for a moment, but quickly turned back at Maou as he half-shouted his response.
    “Why, my liege?! Why did you not tell me sooner?!”
    “Well, I mean…like, no one got hurt, so… Besides, she’s kind of in the same boat we are.”
    “The same boat…? Meaning?”
    Maou inserted a probing finger into his nose to clear out any rogue egg bits remaining.
    “She recognized me as the Devil King Satan yesterday, but she couldn’t bring out her sword. That’s made out of Holy Silver, right? The heaven-born metal that’s imbued with holy power? She couldn’t summon it. You know what that means?”
    “…It means she cannot afford to waste her holy power? So she’s lost the ability to recharge her own powers as well!”
    “Yeah. Not that she’d mind using up all her holy force to defeat the Devil King, though. However, we’ve got one decisive advantage on our side.”
    “Her…life span, right?”
    The ball of anger on the other side of the door began stamping her feet in disgust. It was loud enough to raise serious concerns about the cheap wooden floor giving in on her.
    “Even if she killed both of us, there’s no guarantee she’ll regain enough holy force to get out of this world before she dies. The humans on Ente Isla, they’re lucky if they reach fifty. Of course, women in Japan average a lot higher than that, so
maybe
her mideighties or so. But she’ll be old and frail by that time.”
    “So the Hero would lack the strength to control the Gate as well, then.”
    “Basically, yeah. Here, you mind letting her in? She’s starting to cry out there.”
    The sniffling was loud enough to be audible from beyond the door.
    “What a
dump
!”
    Emilia’s first reaction upon entering was as heroic sounding as she could muster with a beet-red face and bloodshot eyes.
    Ashiya was ready to launch into an angry response, but Maou stopped him, knowing full well she wasn’t exaggerating.
    “Hey, at least it isn’t cluttered, right? We can’t even afford any stuff to clutter it up with.”
    “I find it hard to believe that two men could truly bear to live here…”
    “I like my Devil Castles more functional than comfortable.”
    Maou, nasal passages finally cleared, had returned to his omelet.
    “Not much of a breakfast there, either.”
    “Dude, Ashiya’s a genius at this. He makes breakfasts out of practically nothing. Like magic.”
    “I thank you for your praise, Your Demonic Highness.”
    Ashiya knelt meekly behind Maou as his liege sat cross-legged at the table, running his chopsticks against the plate to wipe up the crumbs. Emilia rolled her eyes in exasperation. What kind of ridiculous charade was this? The Devil King and his faithful general, savoring this meager slop?
    “Are you crazy? The Devil King, eating eggs and nothing else for breakfast? You could at
least
buy some bread to go with it.”
    “We’re poor, all right? Is that bad?”
    Maou’s defense was sorely lacking.
    “Yes! Yes, it is! I clawed my way over to a completely different world just so I could kill these