Read Online The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 1 by Satoshi Wagahara - Free Book Online

to each other by last name in front of their customers. Chiho took the vacuum pack and was about to trot toward the kitchen when she stopped herself.
    “Didn’t she say forty seconds?”
    “That’s for a household microwave. We’ve got an industrial one here that’s at least twice as strong, so twenty ought to be enough.”
    “Oh! All right!”
    Chiho nodded respectfully toward Maou before disappearing into the rear kitchen.
    Maou took up the reins from there, accepting payment, arranging the order on the tray, and handing it to the customer. He wound up being thanked multiple times by the grateful mother. Just another small step on the path to a full-time position. And, from there, to conquering Japan. He could physically feel the steadily forward progress on his skin today.
    “Mmm? What is it, Chi?”
    Chiho, who had reappeared by his side at some point, looked up toward him, practically in awe.
    “That was
amazing
, Maou!”
    “Huh?”
    “I mean, look at you! Did you memorize all that stuff about allergies and what kind of ingredient goes in what?”
    “Well, it’s all in the training manual, isn’t it?”
    Maou replied as if nothing could be less unexpected. Chiho’s excitement continued apace.
    “But that’s still amazing! And you even thought about the baby food, too!”
    “Yeah… Well, that kind of thing’s tougher during the rush, but when you have the time for it, it’s nice if you can be flexible with customer needs. It helps make a better long-term impression.”
    To Chiho, young and chock-full of desire to perform her job well, this was enough to make her sigh in rapt admiration.
    “That’s just so…so
cool
, Maou! So grown-up and responsible!”
    “Ha-ha… Still just a part-timer, though.”
    The only thing that could have intensified Chiho’s look of awed respect was if the background behind her were literally spewing rose petals in all directions. Suddenly, though, she snapped out of it, her face serious once more.



“Oh! Speaking of which, Maou, were you okay after the earthquake yesterday?”
    “Um…”
    It was always difficult—as difficult as trying to control the Gate to another world—to predict what kind of sudden new directions a teenage girl would take a conversation. It was astonishing to Maou, and something he had been introduced to only once he had Chiho for a coworker, but he was well used to it by now.
    “Yeah, no real problems. I live in a junky apartment, so I guess my roommate thought it was a pretty big one, but it didn’t shake
that
much, you know? I didn’t even feel anything.”
    “Oh? Uh… Oh! I guess so, huh?”
    Chiho, judging by her reaction, wasn’t expecting this response. She had this very unnatural way of acting surprised that was in itself surprising.
    “That’s what all my classmates said at school when I asked them, but for me, it was, like, so awful!”
    “Really?”
    Spotting Maou’s apparent interest, Chiho began to gesticulate wildly to emphasize her harrowing experience.
    “My mom said there was this really loud noise, like something exploded, and it shook really bad, too! When I got back home, all the CDs and stuff had fallen off my bookshelf! It was the worst!”
    “Wow. That bad?”
    “Oh, you don’t think I’m lying, too, do you, Maou?”
    Chiho puffed up her cheeks in protest, eliciting a laugh from him.
    “Oh, I’m not, I’m not. So then what happened?”
    “Well, then we had to clean up all the dishes and stuff that had broken! My dad was calling around all over the place!”
    “Calling who?”
    “Oh! My dad’s a police officer, but he was home yesterday because he was off duty. But he used to be a regional director and one of the emergency contact points for the town assembly, so he made a bunch of calls to all his contacts. The ward’s disaster management office told him that it wasn’t a big earthquake at all. It was a real bummer!”
    “Huh.”
    “Maou?”
    “… …”
    “Hey! Maou!”
    “Mm? Oh.