PROLOGUE

In a corner of his cramped apartment, Maou looked at the empty cage on the floor and scowled.

“What’s the matter?” Libicocco asked, perhaps seeing something disquieting in the sight of Maou’s back turned to him.

Maou turned around, looking forlorn.

“I just mean…”

“Yes?”

“Before you came here, this whole apartment got renovated.”

“Yes.”

“And the reason we had to do that was because of the little bugger that was in here.”

“Right…”

“And, you know, this cage was part of the repair fees we paid.”

“…Ah.”

Libicocco had assumed he’d imagined the lonely air swirling about Maou.

“And we wound up using this cage for, like, barely any time at all. It’s such a waste of money, I think.”

“……Ah.”

“And you know, the way the tatami mats are set up in this room, it’s only this corner that’s half a mat in size. It must’ve been a pain in the ass to renovate…but if it wasn’t for this, I bet I could’ve covered it all myself and not have had to grovel to Emi. You know? Haaah…”

“That sounds…rather tough.”

“It is. Money, man… It’s a cruel mistress. Remember that. The only way to make money is through daily, concerted effort.”

Until just the other day, the cage Maou stared at was occupied by Kinanna, an ancient Lenbrellebelve archdemon and the bearer of one of the few remaining relics from Satan, the Devil Overlord of ancient times. Right now, Kinanna was with Urushihara and Laila, on a recuperative journey in Ente Isla. As a native of the demon realms, and considering that he was destined to play a vital role in the battle against heaven to come, Kinanna would likely never see this cage again. It was no longer useful for storage space, or even for stacking stuff on top—a completely useless knickknack.

“Maybe we should buy a pet or something. Something Alas Ramus would like. This is essentially the only apartment in the building where pets are allowed, so…”

“A pet? Don’t they cost money?”

“You need to factor in the cost-effectiveness…but yeah, they cost money.”

For a relatively short amount of time, this room was home to a rather small cat. Recalling the expenses associated with him reminded Maou that, no, diving headlong into pet ownership wasn’t a great idea.

“I have some experience with cats, but you can’t cage a cat all day. Isn’t there something I could use this for?”

“As little time as I’ve spent in the human world, I’m not sure there is, no. Why not take it away and put a bookshelf or the like in there?”

“But that’s so booooriiiing!”

“But, Your Demonic Highness, is now really the time to ruminate on this? Go finish up your breakfast. I need to clear the table.”

He had been willing to lend an obedient ear to Maou’s whining, but after several days of this, Libicocco had gained a pretty clear picture of the trends behind his conversational topics. Now he was managing his liege’s schedule even more efficiently than Ashiya at times.

“You work early today, my liege, so allow me to handle the laundry. Also, we’ve run out of bathhouse tickets, so make sure to purchase some while you’re out.”

“…Sure.”

“What about dinner? I’ll set everything up for you, so feel free to eat whatever you like. I’m closing tonight.”

“…Right.”

On the low table in the center of the room was a plate of yakisoba in sauce with sunny-side-up fried eggs on top, a pretty heavy breakfast. Libicocco was a good half-head taller than Ashiya (himself pretty tall by local standards), and he was much more built than him. He thus complained that smaller meals left him unsatisfied, and so his cooking choices leaned toward whatever filled his stomach the best—a repertoire he had learned somewhere along the line. His cuisine was easy on the wallet, at least, but compared to the delicate, refined dishes Ashiya and Suzuno and Chiho preferred, it was all thick, heavy, and grew tiresome quickly. As a result, Maou had been cooking in shifts with Libicocco, out of a desire for something a bit less massive.

“I’m amazed you can eat all that first thing in the morning.”

“I’m not even sure this will be enough.”

“Seriously?”

Urushihara admittedly snacked on chips and things a lot, but overall he didn’t have that big of an appetite. This meal was about three times the size of what he usually had.

“Well, not that I mind this, but…”

In his human form, Maou was a man in his twenties. If he wanted to pack it away, he definitely could.

“Urp! Thanks again for this.”

“I’ll do the dishes, so get ready to go, all right?”

“Sure… Sorry for the trouble.” Maou stood up, talking with his mouth full. Taking his wallet and phone, he checked the weather forecast, brushed his teeth, picked up his bicycle key, and flew out the door.

“Off we go, Dullahan II! Time for another great day of work!”

Hearing his master make the bold declaration out the window—followed by the creaking sound of his bike as he pedaled off—Libicocco glanced at Kinanna’s cage in the corner of the room.

“I fear my liege has…too much time on his hands.”

It had been almost a month since Libicocco had taken up a job at the MgRonald franchise in front of Hatagaya Station. Watching Maou—whose daily routine was little different from his own—he was fairly sure his leader had better things to do than work there. Still, Maou claimed this job was important, so Libicocco didn’t argue.

“Well, I am sure he has his own thoughts about this…”

Libicocco cleared the table, his thoughts—in a way—more obedient to his master than Ashiya’s or Urushihara’s. He looked at the calendar. It was April 30.

“Two months until the war begins… How long do I have to keep doing this?”