The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 2 by Satoshi Wagahara

around?”
    “Probably because Olba hasn’t returned, I’d saaaay.”
    Olba Meiyer was one of the six archbishops, the ordained group of ministers that wielded the brunt of power within the Church.
    The archbishops were tasked with making all final decisions related to the direction of the Church. Each of its members retained direct and exclusive control of their own section of the Church hierarchy.
    Olba was able to gain a position of such confidence with Emilia, accompanying her for most of her conquest against the Devil King, in part because he was in control of the Church’s diplomatic and missionary operations.
    As archbishop, Olba had extensive experience spreading the tenets of the Church far and wide across foreign lands.
    Emilia’s travels began in the Western Island, where the Church’s grip on power was strongest. Since the Hero still had little exposure to the outside world at that time, Olba—with his talents as a Churchadministrator and vast knowledge of lands where the gods he served were less known and accepted—was the ideal choice to accompany her as she challenged the Devil King.
    The Council of Inquisitors was a somewhat unique subgroup within the Church’s missionary department. Their work was the sort that never came into the limelight, but was nonetheless essential to the entire organization, from surveying foreign lands as a sort of vanguard force for the missionaries, to purging the younger clergymen of their corrupt morals should they lose themselves to debauchery during training, to aiding the Church theologists as they nurtured and developed holy doctrine.
    On the other hand, they also served as a sort of public police force within the Church bureaucracy, declaring a nontrivial number of people to be heretics in their regular inquisitions. This more public face of the Council saddled them with the sort of dark reputation no political organization enjoyed.
    “It sounds like the missionary department is trying to find out what haaaappened to Olba, so it might be that some among them are aware of you, too, Emiliaaaa. Try not to let your guard down, all riiight? Some of them might try pushing things too quickly and start meddling with Japaaaan before long.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind. So are you and Al all right?”
    “Oh, they’ve got their eyyyes on us, what with all the stuff we pulled on ’em. But nothing beyond that’s happened to us, noooo.”
    “Guess there’s no rest for the Hero and her companions, huh?”
    “Guess notttt.”
    Neither Emeralda nor Albert was the sort of guileless goody-goody that could be rubbed out of existence by some half-cocked assassin. If she said they were okay, Emi was perfectly fine with believing her.
    “Aaanyway, I know talking for too long’s gonna rack up your phone bill, so I better hang up, huhhh?”
    “I’m not sure if it costs anything past the base fee or not, actually. It’s the idea link that’s actually connecting our two voices, after all. The phones are just an easier way to access it.”
    “Welll, just in case, I wouldn’t want you going broke on myyy account, sooo…”
    “I appreciate the thought. Thanks for the holy magic, anyway. Say hi to Albert for me.”
    Just as she was about to shut off the call, Emeralda quickly interjected.
    “Ooh, wait, I forgot somethiiing! Watch you don’t drink too many 5-Holy Energy βs at once, okaaay?”
    “Too much? Is there a limit or something?”
    Turning the small bottle of liquid in her hand, she noticed that, where the label would usually list up the ingredients, it simply read
Holy power
instead.
    “There is! I mean, we can refill our own holy powers here as eaaasily as we breathe. But deliberately ingesting it like that? Well, it’s never been done beforrre.”
    “Oh…”
    “So that’s why it’s in beta, you seeee? We tested it on people heeeere, but let’s just say two bottles per day should be your max, all riiight? Drink one in the morning and one in the afternoon…