The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 3 (4 page)

“…And?”

“And to begin with, I have to light the
mukaebi
, yes? And then the smoke from this fire will attract the spirits of one’s ancestors back down to earth?”

Maou hung his head, his suspicions proven correct, before beckoning Suzuno inside through the bars.

Suzuno, brows knitted, nonetheless opened the door to the Devil’s Castle.

“What? They say it is best to do the task while the sun is in the air, so I wanted to handle it as soon as—
ow
!”

Maou cut off Suzuno with a karate chop to her head.

“Wh-what are you doing?!”

“Are you trying to burn this apartment down?! ’Cause you’ve got
way
too much fuel for the job!”

Suzuno’s eyes welled up as she fought back verbally, attempting to invent new and colorful words to criticize him with.

“I was hardly going to burn all of this! The logs are so that I can build a fire pit in the back garden! I am only going to burn this
set
of
ogara
, and… Ow! H-how dare you strike me while my hands are full!”

Maou unleashed his second karate chop.

“That’s even worse! You
saw
Chi buy just one little bundle of them! And now you’re building a fire pit in our yard?! How many ancestors’re you trying to get over here?! You’re not making a campfire!”

The parcel of land occupied by Villa Rosa Sasazuka was surrounded by a concrete-block wall. The yard, if it was large enough to call it that, was little more than a bare strip of earth.

Only a single hardwood tree dared to set root inside. Every year, an entire metropolis of cicadas set up shop amid its leaves, seeking refuge from the city’s asphalt jungle and reciting their incomprehensible, screeching cacophony summer after summer.

“Hey, let’s just calm down a sec, okay? I’ve got some vanilla ice cream for you, Suzuno.”

“It shall be mine!”

If the Devil’s Castle lacked AC, it was a given that Suzuno’s room was no less scorching. That might at least partially explain why Suzuno leaped at the ice cream offered to her, topping it with some
kuromitsu
syrup and roasted soy flower from her room. She spent a moment to savor it before attempting to defend herself again.

“Well, how are you supposed to light a
mukaebi,
then?! As far as I saw in my research, there are monks that build these enormous fires! Vast pyres of flame, set ablaze in pits lined with straw from the
makomo
rice plant!”

There was no way to tell what kind of research Suzuno could have done in the short time after she returned from purchasing the bike. But, as always, it was off-kilter. She was describing far more elaborate Obon ceremonies, the type carried out at Buddhist temples and large-scale festivals.

“Ashiya.”

“Yes! Right here.”

With the snap of Maou’s fingers, Ashiya went into motion, bringing out a clay dish, a lighter, and some twisted bits of newspaper.

“You can buy all this stuff at the hundred-yen store, by the way.
They throw in the newspaper for free to pack the dish in. This is a
horoku
, by the way, a clay pan you roast tea in.”

Maou took a single bundle out of the pile Suzuno brought in and stepped outside the room.

“And the
ogara
here is ninety yen a bundle at the place Chi bought it from. So we’re talking no more than two hundred yen for the whole thing.”

Chiho and the crestfallen Suzuno followed Maou outside as he climbed down the outdoor stairway and placed the clay dish on the ground, near the front gate that faced the road.

Then, removing the bit of plastic that kept the bundle of
ogara
sticks together, he broke the longer sticks into smaller, more manageable sizes.

It took around two-thirds of the bundle to fill up the dish. Maou passed the rest to Suzuno, then lit a twisted bit of newspaper with the lighter.

Pointing it down toward the bottom, with several other paper bits nestled in to serve as kindling, he instantly set the
ogara
ablaze. Smoke lazily wafted above.

“…Ta-dah! That’s the easiest way to light a
mukaebi
.”

“…What?”

“By the way, if you live in a housing complex like this, make sure you do it outside, all right? Otherwise it might set off the smoke detector. Any questions?”

Suzuno’s stare flip-flopped between Maou and the small fire on the dish, her eyes dubious.

“…Simply ridiculous. The
mukaebi
is a cherished family ceremony, meant to attract the souls of one’s revered ancestors. You dare to call this simple, plain affair a ceremony?”

“Well, like, what do you want? I mean, this is kind of
it
, you know? Right?”

Maou looked to Suzuno and Chiho for support. Suzuno turned toward Chiho, hoping for a voice of reason to come to her side.

“It
was
kind of plain, yes, but there’s nothing wrong with what he
did. It’s best if you can use a flame from one of the lanterns they put out for Obon, or from a temple dedicated to revering the dead, but that’s easier said than done here in the city. Oh, also…”

Chiho hunched over the dish.

“You put your hands together like this, and then you pray for your ancestors to return home without getting lost.”

“And…is that all?”

“That, and if you have a
butsudan
, those little shrines people have in their homes sometimes, you can make a little horse out of a cucumber and put it there.”

“Oh, yeah, we make that every year at my place.”

“Out…out of a cucumber? Wh-what in Heaven’s name is
that
?”

Suzuno’s eyes darted to and fro in confusion. Maou gave Chiho a glance, then chuckled a little.

“So when Obon is over, you have to build an
okuribi
, a fire to lead your ancestors’ souls back to the afterlife. But one thing you do for the
mukaebi
is take a cucumber, stick some toothpick legs on it so it looks like a horse, and stick it in your shrine. That encourages your ancestors to ride it, so they’ll come to the fire more quickly. Then when it’s over, you make a cow for them out of an eggplant, and that way they’ll ride that and go back a lot more slowly.”

Maou explained this all as matter-of-factly as he could, Chiho nodding her agreement on every major point. Suzuno looked at one, then the other, then brought a hand to her temple and groaned.

“…I have encountered a vast range of religions in my time, but a ceremony like this one is rare. Never has something so simple seemed so complex to me…or vice versa.”

“Well, if you wanted to get
real
with it, you’d do stuff like line up a bunch of candles down the road, or build a really big fire like you were trying to do. But here in the middle of the city, this is about all you’re gonna get. Some Buddhist sects don’t even do any of this, and besides, there aren’t too many places around here we can go lighting fires. If you wanna see the whole shebang, you could always hit up one of the countryside festivals somewhere in August.”

“Wow. You sure know your stuff, Maou.”

Chiho’s eyes were wide with surprise.

“Yeah, well, you should’ve seen some of the other crap I tried last year while I was trying to regain my demonic force. I was hoping maybe some demon would catch my
mukaebi
and come on down, for example.”

Aha!
This
was the sacrilegious, ritual-defiling Maou Suzuno was more familiar with!

“But it’s not like any of my ancestors are here on Earth anyway. Kind of a waste of a fire, you know?”

“You speak as if your ancestors would be awaiting you in your realm.”

Maou winced at Suzuno’s remark.

“Pft. D’you think the stork delivers demon babies to the underworld or something? I’ve got parents and family lines just like everyone else.”

“Parents…? You?”

Chiho might have been aware of Maou’s past, but it was tough for her to picture the concept of a Devil King having a Queen Mother.

“’Course, they’re both gone now. So…like, if you’re asking whether I wanna light a
mukaebi
and get ’em over here, honestly, I don’t really care.”

But there was something about the way he blurted out the words that made pangs of sadness blaze across Chiho’s mind.

“Oh… Kind of a sad thing to say, though, just like that.”

“Well, what, you think we’re the kind of goody-goody demons who leave flowers on their family grave or something? Even if they
had
one, I’d have no idea where it is. I hardly even remember anything about my parents.”

“R-really…? Um, I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked.”

“Nah, nah.
I’m
the one going on about it. Anyway.”

Maou leaned down toward Chiho and the dish, fanning the flickering flame.

“Don’t forget to take care of the fire once it’s out. In the real ceremony, you’re supposed to put it out with water droplets collected from lotus leaves, but you should still have a bucket of tap water
handy just in case. You can toss the ashes into a potted plant or in the burnable garbage.”

“…Hardly one iota of emotion to it, I see. I feel I’ve gained an insight into the spiritual contradictions that drive modern Japan.”

“Hey, when in Rome. Think of it as me keeping an open mind, huh? Hey, you mind filling a bucket with water for me?”

Just as Maou gave the order:

“Hey! Maou!”

Urushihara stuck his face out the Devil’s Castle door.

“We got trouble comin’ on your six!”

“Trouble?”

Maou looked upstairs quizzically, only to hear:

“What kind of
trouble
, exactly?”

At the voice directly behind him, the lord of Devil’s Castle convulsed in a full-body shudder.

It rang out loud and clear as Maou slowly, reluctantly turned around.

And there—

“Oh, good day, Yusa!”

“Ah, Emilia! Oh, is it that time already?”

There he saw the owlish face of Emi Yusa, better known in certain otherworldly circles as Emilia Justina, the Hero and savior of Ente Isla.

An unopened solar umbrella was in her right hand, her left holding up a paper bag with something heavy inside.

She leveled the tip of her umbrella at Maou, brushing him away as he looked up at Urushihara from downstairs.

“Lucifer! How did you know I was coming?! You didn’t stick another one of your GPS transmitters somewhere, did you?!”

“N-no! Nothing like that! I just saw you in the camera I installed outside! Dude, chill out a bit, okay? We got ice cream!”

“I am as ‘chill’ as the coolest, freeze-dried, most ice-covered cucumber in the universe! And I’ll be even ‘chiller’ once I’ve finally slain you all!”

“N-no, really! I’m not lying! Look!”

Urushihara darted back into the apartment, brought out a cup of ice cream and the hacked webcam he installed between the window bars, and waved both of them in the air.

“……”

Emi’s eyes were attracted to the Haggen-Boss mint ice cream cup before the camera, but snapped out of it and turned sharply toward Chiho and Suzuno.

“Hey there, Chiho. Is that your ice cream?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. We got this huge gift set, but my mom and dad aren’t into sweets at all.”

“…Makes sense. Not like these vagrants would ever be ahead of the game enough to buy Haggen-Boss.”

“Do you even realize how small that makes you look? Rating how successful a guy is by whether he buys dessert or not?”

Maou, to the side, complained loudly at this brutal treatment. Emi paid him no heed, taking out a handkerchief and dabbing her face with it.

“The mint-flavor Haggen-Boss is only sold as part of those gift boxes. You’re never gonna see them individually. Boy, I can just
imagine
the tears of joy you all must’ve shed the moment Chiho gave that to you. I’m sure the demon realms would be shocked and horrified to see
that
, hmm? Whether you’re Devil King or not, I wouldn’t really call that ‘ahead of the game.’”

“…I’m sorry, Maou. I can’t really defend against that.”

Chiho bowed her apology to him.

“…So are you just here to gawk at our abject poverty, or what? Sitting in your stupid air-conditioned office all day, your stupid air-conditioned apartment all night… You’ve got the biggest carbon footprint for a Hero ever!”

“Well, sorr-
ee
. The AC came preinstalled, so it’d be a waste not to use it, right? It’s a pretty new energy-saving model, too, and I got it set to eighty-two degrees, no matter how hot it gets outside. I don’t think
you’ve
got any right to complain.”

“Ugh! Dammit! You’re so obviously trying to lord it over me with your middle-class-ness!”

Maou stamped his feet, frustrated. Emi refused to engage him, turning toward Suzuno instead.

“Are you all set? Sorry I’m a little early.”

“Ah, my apologies. Give me just one moment. I will make my preparations shortly.”

Suzuno scurried off toward the stairway.

“Oh, wait. Before that…”

Stopped by Emi, Suzuno watched as she handed over her paper bag.

From the lip, she could see a box of energy drinks, a familiar logo stamped on top. Maou and Chiho had no way of being aware, but the boxes naturally contained the 5-Holy Energy β sent previously by a friend of Emi’s from Ente Isla.

“Ah, yes… Is this the supply we discussed?”

“Yep. Two bottles per day, okay? These are valuable, so don’t lose ’em.”

“…What kind of secret smuggling operation
is
this?”

Maou dove into their hushed conversation over the paper bag. The two women both glared at him.

“Be
especially
careful with him.”

“There is no need to remind me.”

“Hey!”

Maou gritted his teeth at them.

“I don’t remember doing anything that’d make you think I was gonna rummage through her stuff!”

“I think that would be one of the
least
despicable things you’ve ever done.”

Emi’s reaction was frigid. It had the intended effect on Maou.

“Despicable? How could you call me that? I made it up to assistant manager in less than a year!”