The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 2 by Satoshi Wagahara Read Free Book Online Page A

make it oooover? Wowwww, that was faaast! I only sent them off yesterday!”
    It probably
would
be a surprise to someone becoming familiar with the astonishing speed of Japan’s delivery infrastructure for the first time.
    “They contain holy energy for youuu! I modified its appearance so it wouldn’t look conspicuous storing it within Japan.”
    “Holy…
What
?”
    Emi pushed the table away from her as she rose.
    “B-but why’s it say
food
, then? They’re all, like, super heavy. Is it bags of rice or something?”
    “Rice…? Oh, right, the main food staple in Japan? No, not thaaaat. I set it up so it’s divided into small portions that’re easy to work with! They’re famous on Earth, right? Liiiiike, one swig fills you up with power, yeah?”
    “One swig?”
    She raised an eyebrow as she took the packing tape off the topmost package. Tossing it to the side, she opened the box and peered inside.
    “Whoa…”
    It was packed with a vast array of smaller boxes, wadded-up paper wedged between them. Each one had the logo of a well-known Japanese pharmaceutical company stamped on it. Opening one of them up, Emi’s suspicions were confirmed—eleven small brown bottles greeted her, each filled with a clear liquid and with a gold cap affixed to the top.
    “‘5-Holy Energy B’…?”
    “Oh, not a B. That’s a β. Beta, y’knoooow? Like, kind of a beta test.”
    “That’s not the point. Emeralda. So if I drink one of these, it’ll refill my holy power?”
    “You’ve got it! By the way, Emiliaaaaa…”
    The voice on the other end suddenly grew inquisitive.
    “What’s the Devil King been up to laaaately?”
    “Well…”
    Emi thought for a moment before answering.
    “The same as always, pretty much. We usually wind up arguing whenever we run into each other, but we’re both busy with work, so I haven’t really had a chance to gauge his private life.”
    “……”
    The indecisiveness was palpable.
    “Emiliaaa…do you understand what you’re telling meeee?”
    “Huh?”
    Emi was at a loss. Emeralda chose her words carefully as she continued.
    “You sound like someone whining that you’re so busy, you’re having trouble making time for your lovvvver.”
    All right. Maybe
carefully
was a stretch. Straight down the middle, in fact. And it still managed to strike Emi right on the noggin.
    Emi compared Emeralda’s observation with what she just said a moment ago.
    “Dah…wha…nragh…”
    The phone mike picked up every phase of her raging emotions.
    “What’re you
talking
about, Emer?! You should
know
it’s nothing like that between us! I—I mean, as long as we’re both living in Japan, we have to follow Japanese laws, go to Japanese work, make Japanese money, the whole bit! When I say that I can’t watch over every waking moment he spends, it doesn’t
mean
anything more than… Unnghghh!!”
    “I know, I knowww…”
    Emeralda cracked up as she picked on her companion. Emi’s fury continued unabated, her breath quickening in pace.
    “Stop making fun of me! I am the Hero of Ente Isla! And he’s the Devil King! He’s my sworn enemy, and that
never
changes! The mere thought that we’re lo…lo…
lovers
makes me nauseous!”
    Indeed, the woman calling herself Emi Yusa was none other than Emilia Justina, the Hero who dispatched the demonic forces serving the Devil King Satan and brought lasting peace back to her world.
    Just as Satan was now mild-mannered MgRonald burger flipperSadao Maou, so, too, was Emilia posing as Emi Yusa, working for Shinjuku-based telephone company Dokodemo as a contracted call-center operator.
    Emeralda Etuva, on the other end of the line, was Emilia’s traveling companion. The court alchemist for the empire of Saint Aile, the nation that boasted the largest swath of territory on Ente Isla’s Western Island, she followed Emilia to Japan as she pursued the Devil King two months ago, just in time to take in the Hero’s battle against Lucifer.
    After that came