First it was Sū ěr, then it would be him.
"She's not going to dock our pay, is she? Hey, Sū ěr!" Maou hissed, his voice hushed but desperate. To this man, a pay cut was a punishment akin to the end of the world.
"Don't overthink it. She called for me, not 'us.' Besides, there aren't many customers right now; chatting is fine," Sū ěr said, rolling his eyes to comfort the youth who was obsessed with his wages. Then, another possibility occurred to him. "Maybe she's calling me in for a raise?"
"A-A raise?!" Maou eyes bulged with shock.
His impoverished brain seemingly couldn't even fathom such a glorious scenario.
Shaking his head, Sū ěr left the stunned, simple fellow behind and knocked on the door before entering the Manager's office.
The Manager of this MgRonald's chain was also the shop's barista, a woman named Mayumi Kisaki.
She had well-groomed, shoulder-length hair and wore the red-and-yellow manager's uniform with black stockings—the quintessential professional woman. Her personality was decisive and vigorous. Though she looked fierce at times, she wasn't actually a bad person; in fact, she was quite kind.
Kind enough to take in the penniless, clueless Sadao Maou as a subordinate and patiently teach him the ropes. She had become the person Maou feared and respected most.
Though Sū ěr always felt she was a bit "off" herself.
"...Have you considered going to Ginza?"
Hearing the woman behind the desk stare at him seriously for a few minutes before dropping that line, Sū ěr eye twitched.
Ginza was Japan's most prosperous commercial district, home to all sorts of shops. But what the woman meant here was... she wanted Sū ěr to be a host. A Ginza host. In a way, they were quite famous.
"Sorry, I have absolutely no plans for that. Please don't give it another thought," Sū ěr replied with a wooden face.
"That's a real shame..." Kisaki didn't look like she was joking; she seemed genuinely disappointed.
"...Rather than being disappointed, why not just give me a raise?" Sū ěr didn't have the typical Japanese sense of hierarchy between superior and subordinate. He asked directly, and Kisaki didn't get angry.
"Fine," she nodded without hesitation. "You've done well, Sū ěr. Thanks to you, sales have been climbing steadily. So, starting today, your hourly wage is going up by 200 yen."
??
It really was a raise?!
"Much appreciated." While this amount of money wouldn't drastically change Sū ěr life, the thrill of seeing his income increase was still quite pleasant.
"Mmh, keep up the good work. You might even be called to headquarters for training soon to become the Manager of a new branch," Kisaki said with a smile.
"Uh, I'll do my best."
Become a Manager? Sū ěr gave a dry laugh as he replied. He wasn't planning on spending his golden years here... the game would eventually lose its luster.
"Go on then. Oh, and send Maou in. You've both been doing a great job lately," Kisaki said, leaning back in her chair and narrowing her eyes.
"Will do." Sū ěr nodded. It looked like Maou was getting a raise too.
As he thought about it, Sū ěr closed the door and stepped out, immediately spotting the man pacing nervously in front of the door.
"Ah! Are you okay, Sū ěr?!" With the sheer intensity of an ordinary human's worry, Maou grabbed Sū ěr arm.
"...Ah, the situation is grave, Maou!" In an instant, Sū ěr struck a pained expression, his eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot.
"Th-th-th-the situation is g-g-g-grave—??" The simple young man was terrified into a stutter. Thunder seemed to crash in his heart.
"I don't even know how to put it... sigh," Sū ěr gave an exaggerated, long sigh. "Anyway, just go in. The Manager has something to tell you too... Good luck. Stay alive."
At the end, Sū ěr added a mischievous pat on Maou shoulder, his face still maintaining that pained expression.
"S-s-s-stay a-a-a-alive??!!"
Like a fungus beast that had been injected with a vaccine, Maou trembled with every word, his entire being visibly turning a pale, ashen grey.
Withered.
Determined to play the part to the end, Sū ěr stopped speaking. He merely dragged his "heavy" footsteps away down the hall, waving a weak hand behind him.
Maou: "..."
Full of the fear of death, Sadao Maou set out on his quest.
Once he heard the knock and the door opening behind him, Sū ěr "dejected" back immediately straightened up. He had to admit, playing these kinds of jokes was fun. Especially since Maou was so simple that he'd believe anything—it was almost as if he hadn't grown up on Earth. It added a lot of flavor to the game.
Sū ěr liked this life. No life-or-death pressure, he could play harmless jokes on friends, and he didn't feel lonely in a strange era. Both entertainment and daily life were convenient... even if there were no supernatural powers on the surface, this era was never boring.
"One large family bucket, four burgers, five medium Cokes, and two sundae. Enjoy your meal~" Sū ěr said, placing the food on the table with a smile.
The "never boring" part was exactly what he was looking at now. To be precise, it was one of the five middle schoolers sitting at the table—two boys and three girls. Sū ěr was particularly interested in one of the boys.
He had short brown hair, and his body was radiating a faint, almost imperceptible... demon aura [妖气 - Youki].
It was incredibly weak, so faint that anyone without sharp senses would doubt it was a monster at all. He was the only special one; the other four were perfectly normal humans.
He had thought that monsters and gods had long since died out or gone into hiding, but Sū ěr hadn't expected to stumble upon a clue while working his part-time job. So monsters did still exist? Hiding within the human cities?
Then what about the gods?
Sū ěr narrowed his eyes slightly as he walked back to the counter, watching the boy out of the corner of his eye. The boy looked incredibly shy; when his friends brought him into the conversation, he would lower his head bashfully, occasionally glancing at the chestnut-haired girl beside him.
During the delivery, Sū ěr had caught the name his friends called him.
Rikuo Nura.