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

drop the subject as quickly as possible, but Chiho’s sense of curiosity was unlikely to let that ambiguous response pass without comment.
    “Ooh! Something’s
up
!”
    “What?”
    Chiho peered at him from below, hands clasped together behind her back.
    “And she
was
kinda pretty, too, huh? Huh? Huh, Maou?”
    “You don’t have to say ‘huh’ three times, Chi! Like, what makes you think her and me are—
Hello
there!”
    By this point, the instinct to loudly greet every customer who passed through the entrance was embedded into his brain stem.
    “Will this be for here, ma’am?”
    This time, Chiho took up the register. They were out of the rush, so anyone was free to take the front counter as long as they knew the job. Chiho was still new here, but whenever there was a spare moment, she readily sought out and accepted new duties. Maou was impressed enough that he willingly took a step back and let her take over.
    The customer was a kindly-looking mother with baby in hand, a boy who might or might not have been old enough for school yet was clinging to her side. It was a pretty common sight to see at the semiresidential Hatagaya restaurant, once the lunch period ended and the herds of office flacks cleared out.
    The mother’s eyes darted between Chiho and the menu as she placed her order. Suddenly, Chiho’s fingers came to a halt over the register keys. “Just one moment, please,” she said before turning to Maou.
    “Um…Maou?”
    “Yep?”
    It was generally frowned upon for full employees to whisper at trainees in front of customers. Instead, requiring crew members to discuss issues with customers and solve them together helped train the staff and gave customers a better impression of the place. Chiho pointed out the family with her eyes as she continued.
    “This customer’s son has issues with allergies.”
    “Allergies? Certainly. Do you know which types of food trigger these allergies?”
    It was still Chiho’s duty to attend to the customer. Maou worked through her to address the customer’s concerns as politely as possible.
    “It looks like shrimp, crab, and some fruits, too.”
    Maou nodded and provided a colorful menu to the mother as he explained her options.
    “Well, products that include shrimp are required by law to be specifically mentioned on food menus, so as you can see here, it’s used in all of our seafood products.”
    “Oh!”
    The mother, as well as Chiho, seemed oddly impressed by this presentation.
    “Regarding fruit, the government recommends informational displays for kiwifruit, oranges, peaches, and apples. Out of those, apples are the only type used in certain types of seasonings that we use. This includes the sauce on the Teriyaki Burger, for example, as well as some salad dressings. Over on our side offerings, it would also be best to avoid our seasonal fruit-flavored ice cream selection, as well as the vegetable juice.”
    Both the mother and Chiho were held enrapt by this lecture, as Maou pointed out the menu items to be avoided. Satisfied by this, the mother made her choices.
    “By the way, ma’am, would you like to use our microwave?”
    “Hmm?”
    “Huh?”
    Chiho and the mother responded in almost identical fashion. Maou motioned toward the mother’s infant as he continued.
    “If you have any baby food or other products meant for microwave preparation, we’d be happy to assist you with that. If you don’t mind my intrusiveness, I thought you might like your youngest to enjoy lunch with you and your son.”
    The mother glanced at the baby in her arms, a wide grin on her face, before nodding.
    “Well, thank you very much! Here… This should take about forty seconds to cook.”
    She took a vacuum-packed pouch out from her shoulder bag as she spoke. Maou accepted it, then handed it over to Chiho.
    “Here, Sasaki, put this in for twenty seconds. Make sure it’s ready alongside the rest of the order.”
    Employees in Japanese restaurants were expected to refer