The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 3 Read Free Page B

wondering what exorbitant sum you would ask for. I appreciated, after all, that I did owe you a substantial debt.”
    Maou thumbed through the pamphlet with one hand. It was a bicycle catalog.
    “‘Mountain bike,’ ‘road’—no, ‘load cycle’? Or even one of those wilderness galloping BM-whatevers! I was perfectly expecting one of those to come my way!”
    “…You don’t have to pretend you know anything about bikes, Suzuno.”
    “Diligent study is the key to life itself! My point is that, even with the antitheft registration, it was…
disarming
to be asked for only thirty thousand. I had withdrawn two hundred thousand yen from the bank earlier.”
    “Look, did you seriously think someone living in abject poverty like I do would ask for a top-of-the-line bike model? The Dullahan you destroyed goes for 6,980 yen brand-new at the Donkey Hottie Discount Store over in Hounancho.”
    Maou tossed the brochure back as he boasted of his cheap spending habits. It only served to make Suzuno further disconsolate.
    “The barbarous Devil King is given the chance to make a purchase with a human being’s money. I would have expected anything and everything from you!”
    “You could
try
trusting me a little, man. Or are you just that dead set on the Devil King being a total prick all the time? Besides, no offense to Mr. Hirose or anything, but he doesn’t really deal in, like, Tour de France stuff.”
    Maou inserted an indifferent laugh midway. Suzuno looked up, a woeful expression on her face. She quickly turned back down, though, as Maou realized something and dared a look at her.
    “But you withdrew two hundred thousand yen? You only just came here, you haven’t worked a single day, and you got that much in your account? ’Cause, like, I’ve been working this hard and I don’t think my balance has
ever
gotten past two hundred thousand.”
    “Well, unlike yourself and Emilia, I had the time to make ample preparations.” Suzuno shrugged. She did not go into further detail.
    Not long ago, she had ventured into Shinjuku for the first time with the Hero Emilia, known as Emi Yusa to most here. The precious gems and other relics she brought into Mugi-hyo, a well-known pawn shop in the neighborhood, fetched a price that would have made Maou’s eyeballs pop out of their sockets.
    She had zero intention, naturally, of informing the personification of evil living next door of the exact number, but it offered Suzuno enough freedom that she could enjoy several months of modest living going forward without having to find work.
    “Huh. Well, neat. Better keep my pinkies up around you, I guess.”
    He pouted a bit as he spoke, but Maou’s attention was still more focused on his bike. He rang the bell on it, like a child with a new toy.
    “Anyway, though, thanks. I appreciate this.”
    “……”
    Suzuno looked up at Maou and his unexpected words of gratitude. This time around, their eyes successfully met. She hurriedly used her parasol to shield her face.
    The idea of evil incarnate so easily, guilelessly smiling and thanking people was nothing short of outrageous. In fact, when was the last time someone had offered
her
such meek and unadorned gratitude?
    “I-it was restitution. And only that. It is now yours, and you may use it as you wish.”
    “Sure thing.”
    They walked silently for a few moments.
    “D-Devil King?”
    “Yeah?”
    Suzuno, unable to remain silent for reasons she couldn’t verbalize, stopped and pointed to her side.
    “Wh-what is that? It seems that a great number of establishments have suddenly begun dealing in flowers.”
    She was pointing at the front door of a flower shop.
    Bundles of unadorned white tree branches were lined up in the middle of the shop space by the dozen, pushing away the colorfully blooming flowers to the side.
    “Oh, those? Those are
ogara
sticks.”
    “Ah, I see. So is that a dried version of the remnants you’re left with after preparing tofu?”
    “…What?”
    Maou