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

to a close, Emi gained a key advantage Maou lacked—the ability to accept support from Emeralda and her companions.
    Further, to prevent their regular “idea link”–based conversations from being intercepted by a third party, she had sent her friends Emeralda and Albert a handy device for long-distance verbal communication—a cell phone, in other words—making it easier to exchange information on a more intimate level.
    “Ugh… Look, I’ll admit I’ve been a bit lazy with monitoring him. I’ll go check him out tomorrow, all right? It’ll be a good chance to test out these bottles, besides. Too bad I can’t invoice you for the transport costs to
his
place!”
    The old wound to Emi’s heart, caused by a hapless police officer who mistook her and Maou for a couple having a spat when they were taken to the station one night, continued to fester within her.
    “I don’t know what you meeean by that, but anyway, greaaat!”
    Emeralda’s voice suddenly changed tone as she spoke.
    “Emer?”
    “So…pleeeease, Emiliaaaa?”
    Emeralda’s normally easygoing verbal pace seemed to slow down even further as she took pains to emphasize each word.
    “Pleeeease, don’t do anything that would turn me and you into ennnnemies, all riiight?”
    “…!”
    Emi swallowed nervously. This came as a complete surprise.
    “I know about ‘Emiiii’, and Japaaaan, and Maoooou, too. So pleeeease…”
    Her voice was soft and approachable. It made the meaning lurking behind her words all the more powerful.
    “I’ll take that to heart. Don’t worry. I am the Hero. On the name of my mother and father, I swear I will not follow the path of the mistaken.”
    “Ah, how reassuring to hear thaaaat!”
    Nordo, her father, disappeared into the raging flames of the battle between human and demon. And:
    “Your moooother, you know… She was suuuuch a nice woman, Emilia!”
    “It’d be a bit strange if an angel
wasn’t
nice, wouldn’t it?”
    Her mother was the archangel Laila. Such was the power granted to Emilia Justina, the Hero who bore the power created by her half-angel blood.
    “But how have things been over there? I know it’s weird how peaceful things are even though the Devil King’s running free, but has anything changed with the Church and all the other nations at all?”
    “Wellll…”
    Emi could hear Emeralda shuffling a large sheaf of papers in her hands.
    “The plan to kill you off alongside the Devilllll King was led by only a tiny cabal of high Church officers. And in public, anyway, you and all of us are the heroes that saved the world! So no nation’s shown any outward signs, anyway, of sending assassins your waaay.”
    Emi immediately noticed what Emeralda was trying to tiptoe around.
    “Outwardly, you say.”
    “Indeed, veeery much so!”
    She could practically hear Emeralda grin bitterly across the line.
    “But even if the main powers don’t make a mooove, there’s been quite a lot of suspicious actiiiivity from powerful nobles with deepChurch connections, not to mention smaller nations and entities hoping to ingraaatiate themselves with the Chuuurch.”
    “I wonder what I could’ve done to make those big shots hate me so much.”
    “Oh, not like logic works against them. All they care about is protecting themselllves, and their iiinfluence.”
    The bitterness was now clear in Emeralda’s voice.
    “I’ve heard talk about someone enlisting the Assassin’s Guillld, and underground bounty hunterrrs, and even the Reconciliation Panel taking aaaction…but that’s still firmly in the realm of ruuuumors.”
    “Panel of…what?”
    Emi was offput by the unfamiliar term. Emeralda, apparently realizing this, corrected herself.
    “Oh, I’m sorry, I mean the Council of Inquiiisitors. They changed their naaame recently.”
    “What? The Inquisitors…? Then why would they be targeting me? It’s not like they’d bother going after the Devil King at this point, either. Why’s that rumor going