The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 1 by Satoshi Wagahara

unpopular model that was a pain to navigate and sported a camera that would have been hot stuff thirteen years ago. They had concluded that when it came to a phone, talk and text would be good enough.
    “So how long have you been here in Japan?”
    “It…uh, hasn’t been a year yet.”
    “How old are you this year?”
    “Seventeen! So?”
    Most seventeen-year-olds in Japan would still be under parental care. They’d be attending high school.
    So how could
this
one be living a better, more relaxed life than Maou? It honestly puzzled Maou inside, but he opted not to dwell upon it. It wasn’t like knowing the answer would improve life at all.
    “Well, no matter what happens, we’re gonna need to find a way out of this world before we use up our natural life span. I know you found us and all, but we don’t exactly have the cash to move out of here. So, welcome to the new Devil’s Castle. This one-room apartment is all we need to open the first chapter in our new quest for world domination.”
    Maou attempted to affect as much bluster as he could, using his chopsticks to point at her as he did. Her expression as she looked around the room was part doubt, part sympathetic compassion, and part natural wariness.
    “Do you think you can back up all that junk, though? A Devil King living day to day off menial part-time work?”
    “I am not your typical demon, Hero. I know I cannot solve every problem with force alone. If you think I’m willing to live out mylife in Japan, rolling along with my comfortable job, you are deadly wrong.”
    “Huh?”
    It was Ashiya, unexpectedly, expressing doubt at this statement. Maou ignored him as he himself laughed heartily at Emilia.
    “I fully intend to have Japan in my grasp before long.”
    Emilia tensed up as the Devil King started to sound the part, for a change. Noticing this, Ashiya steeled himself, preparing for whatever might happen. A single word from Maou was all it would take. After a pause, his master spoke.
    “So listen. At MgRonald, if you work hard enough as a part-timer, they have a system where you can become a full salaried employee.”
    “…Uh?”
    Another word was all it took to immediately break the tension. The quizzical looks on faces of Emilia and Ashiya told the whole story. What did the violent takeover of Japan and the human resources department at MgRonald have to do with each other?
    “You should know as well as I do, Emilia, how much your schooling and past experience affect your social position here in Japan.”
    “Yeah. So? That’s ‘Emilia the Hero,’ by the way!”
    “Look, try to use your brain a little, all right? In Japan, we’re magicless. Powerless. The only power we
can
get our hands on is the title of a salaried employee!”
    Maou belted out a howling laugh, the laugh that once sowed seeds of terror across Ente Isla.
    “So heed my words, Emilia the Hero. My ultimate goal is to become a full-time employee in this world!”
    “I…don’t see how that affects me.”
    Emilia was frozen on the spot, unsure how to react to this unexpected declaration.
    “Soon, the day will come when I outclass even my store manager. Then, as a full-timer, I will build up my stores of cash and social currency. Before long, I will wield enormous powers, forcing massive armies of people in Japan to grovel before me! Then I will usethis power as a weapon to invade Ente Isla once more! Well, Emilia? Think you have what it takes to stop me?”
    Ashiya could only stand to the side, unable to speak as he listened to the speech unfolding in terrifying fashion.
    Chopsticks still in hand, Maou stared proudly at the plainly dumbfounded Emilia.
    “…You are
so
stupid.”
    After a moment, Emilia averted her eyes. Maou, noting this, puffed up his chest in glorious victory.
    “Hah! I thought so! A mere human could never comprehend the extent of my glorious spiritual strength!”
    “If I may,” interjected Ashiya, “I think she said that precisely
because
she