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

over was gone, along with the laptop computer that rested on top of it.
    “He didn’t…escape from you, did he?”
    Anyone who knew Urushihara would never imagine the man finding a job, or going out shopping, or making any other positive move with his life. Besides, his criminal past meant he was still in no position to walk around his surroundings in broad daylight.
    “Pfft… If he had the guts to attempt something like that, do you think I would be as exhausted as I am?”
    Ashiya’s temple twitched in time with the edge of his lips. He let out a deep, pensive sigh.
    “…As I am sure you could imagine, Ms. Sasaki, the volume and frequency of Alas Ramus’s crying overnight was beyond anything we could have imagined.”
    With a newborn infant, being up and wailing half of the night was just part of the package. But for a child who could speak and understand her surroundings to some extent, outbursts like that represented a demand for some particular need.
    Family needs forced Chiho to return home that evening. She had no idea what transpired after that.
    Judging by the extent of Ashiya’s fatigue, it was hard for her to remain optimistic.
    It gave Chiho a chance to recall everything she did witness before she had to leave.

    For her (apparent) age, Alas Ramus was picking up on language remarkably rapidly.
    That much was clear between “Daddy is Satan” and her fingering Emi as the other side of the couple.
    But Emi, after regaining control of her rational thoughts, fervently attempted to prove her innocence, just as Maou had denied everything.
    Despite the initial chaos, the other four people in the room never truly thought there was something going on between Maou and Emi. The Hero and the Devil King were like oil and water. Two identical poles on a pair of magnets. They couldn’t…interact, not in the least bit. Alas Ramus’s age level made that particularly and abundantly clear, and more to the point, neither party had any recollection of the events that would’ve been required. It would have led to utter chagrin if they did.
    Still, it was only natural that after having been turned away by both of her certified parents, Alas Ramus plunged into a fiery, cacophonous crying fit.
    Maou, still bewildered to the core, tried his best to keep the girl serene.
    “Hey… Hey, calm down, Alas Ramus. Your mommy and daddy are right here, all right? Me, and that girl over there.”
    “Erraaggghhhhh! Satan, Daddyyyyaaahhhh!!”
    She was crying and screaming simultaneously out of her tiny mouth, creating a noise akin to the shrieking of hell.
    “Oh, man… Hey, what’re we gonna do about this?”
    “……”
    “Hey, Emi…”
    “……”
    “…Hey!”
    “Agh!!”
    Maou clapped her hands in front of Emi’s confused, downtrodden face.
    Surprised, she fell to the floor, almost into Suzuno’s hands.
    “Mwaaaammmmiiiiieeeee!!”
    Alas Ramus, face covered in tears and snot, chose this moment to fly into her arms, shouting.
    It sounded like the guttural groan of some enraged beast, but she appeared to be saying “Mommy” as she clung to her.
    With no escape in sight, Emi pulled the child upward.
    “Weeaaaaannnnngggghhhh!!”
    “Whoa, hey, uh…”
    With a thunk, she thudded into Emi’s arms. She was heavier than she anticipated.
    To a Hero, a crying child seeking companionship was someone who required protection at once.
    But
this
girl? A girl saying Emi was her mother? Emi, elbows bent oddly as she attempted to wrangle the ball of forlorn rage in her arms, had no way to deal with this unimaginable situation.
    “What am
I
supposed to do about this?! …Ah!”
    Emi, at her wit’s end, turned her eyes upward.
    “…Don’t just
stare
at me like that!”
    There she found the rest of the group watching her with every fiber of their bodies, on the edge of their figurative seats, waiting to see what happened next.
    “Uggghh… You people haven’t forgotten already, have you? This child stopped my holy sword