Free The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 3 by Satoshi Wagahara Page A

in this.”
    The next item out of the bag was a plastic cup, a large plastic sipper straw sticking out the center of its lid.
    “There’s a valve inside the straw that keeps the drink from spilling if you drop it. If she can talk that much, she probably won’t have any problem with this. …Though, do they even
have
straws in Ente Isla?”
    “There were… I believe. It was a human thing; I paid it little attention. Emilia and Crestia would know…”
    “Well, if Alas Ramus doesn’t know how to use a straw, try this instead.”
    Moving on, Chiho took out a drink box labeled CHILDREN’S BARLEY TEA .
    “Does it make any difference whether it is for children or adults?”
    “Oh, a big difference. Whether it’s brewed hot or cold, the barley tea sold in stores can be too bitter for children a lot of the time if it isn’t made right. That, and more important, this drink box comes with a straw, so she can use it for practice if need be.”
    “Practice?”
    “Right. So what you want to do is squeeze the box in the middle so that just a little bit is pushed out the top. That way, the baby will realize that sucking at the straw will make the drink come out. Then she’ll get curious and figure it out for herself.”
    “……”
    By now, the look on Ashiya’s face was one of awe as he watched Chiho.
    “And all the rest of this is diapers!”
    Chiho pointed toward a pile of diapers of assorted shapes and sizes.
    There was a pull-up type for older children, the traditional kind fastened together with tape, and then a dizzying array of other brands, each apparently boasting its own style and list of materials.
    “So you can try these out, one after the other, and use whatever works the best for her.”
    Ashiya, accepting the pile of diapers, turned his face away, emotionally overwhelmed.
    “I… You… You have been such a tremendous help to us, Ms. Sasaki. I, Ashiya, have no way to express the gratitude I feel for your selfless support…”
    “Oh, don’t be so melodramatic!”
    “No, I…I mean it. In fact, if you will it, I would gladly recommend you for the position of Chief General of my liege’s regrouped demon forces once he regains his powers within Japan!”
    “I’ll…pass on that, thanks.”
    Chiho internally questioned what kind of recruitment standards Ashiya had if he was willing to appoint her to the top command in exchange for taking a walk down the baby aisle in the supermarket. It unsettled her slightly.
    “Besides, all I did was use some of the money Maou gave me to shop for a few of the things you need. Oh, lemme give you the change and receipt. Could you give this to Maou for me?”
    “…Yes. Yes, I most certainly shall. I, Ashiya, stake my very life upon it…!”
    Chiho smiled a bit as Ashiya fulfilled his blood promise and accepted the change.
    “It was kind of fun, too, so…”
    She looked toward Alas Ramus, still sound asleep.
    “My cousin on my dad’s side got married, and he’s already had a kid. Whenever I come to visit, I like helping out with him while we’re playing around together. His wife taught me a lot about this kind of thing while we chatted.”
    “I…see! Is that how you learned…?”
    “Yeah. That, and…um…”
    Just as she concluded her trip down memory lane, Chiho suddenly grabbed her left hand, her cheeks glowing red as she hesitated to continue.
    “And I… I thought…someday, with……Maou………I wouldn’t mind that…”
    “Um, Ms. Sasaki?”
    “Huh? Oh, uh, um, um, never mind never mind never…!”
    She flailed her hands and shook her head, her face bright red. Luckily, she noticed something that gave her an opportunity to rapidly change the subject.
    “Oh, but did Urushihara go somewhere?”
    Urushihara, the consummate listless lout, the resident money drain in Devil’s Castle, the angel who fell both from the heavens and commonly accepted standards of cleanliness, was nowhere to be seen.
    That, and the desk he was always found crouched