The Devil Takes the Night Shift

Chapter 37: The Manager Contemplates

That was certainly an encounter Juuto had the other night. So much so, that the idea still stuck with him, as he felt the piece of paper still in his pocket. The offer the lady left him was tempting, but something holding him back.

"Oh boy, break time again!" The more obvious of those reasons would be Rame, as the girl went to go grab her nightly hot dogs. For some reason, he felt a bit concerned about approaching that woman again while still hanging around her. Not merely just due to her reaction upon seeing him with the woman, but rather the drama surrounding the group he had found himself in.

Under what circumstances should he ever consider allowing anyone else into his life, knowing the dangers that could be brought due to his relationship with the demon lord. That would be irresponsible of him, to say the least. Already just hanging around the people he had gotten to know in the neighborhood was already putting them at risk. Their first encounter with Akitomo proved that much.

Wait a second, Akitomo did nearly hurt, if not kill, his friends. Those were innocent lives, and he didn't even care. "Aren't you going to grab some too?" Rame asked him, breaking the man out of the thought bubble he was in.

"Sorry, I'm just not feeling hungry right now." He declined the offer and told her he'd be heading to the back to handle the trash. Someone had to do it, and this time it was his turn. Though he couldn't be that mad about it, this did give him the opportunity to consider his options a bit.

An option he could pursue would certainly be calling that number Migane gave him. Assuming she didn't give him a fake number and her actions weren't all just a prank on him, then it wouldn't hurt to continue talking with her. Then again, maybe the idea of her just messing around wasn't that far fetched. She was a beautiful woman compared to his more average appearance. "Eh, I'll worry about it when I get home." Then he got some second thoughts. Juuto was at work, any personal relationships should be taken care of in private.

"Ah, I could look at this all night." Rame commented as he walked inside. She was peering over her picture under the listing, employee of the month. Her second award during this short time working here. "No one but me can be the best."

"Well, at least every other month." He responded. "I'm glad you're doing well. Things have gotten rather settled down, so I guess you better be prepared for the long haul." Though given her living situations, he did wonder how she planned on returning to her own realm.

"Ah, but a demon lord can't ever rest." She replied. "You haven't noticed, but I've been sending my servant on some missions to do some research on finding a way to regain my powers." Apparently, they had what was called a library filled with knowledge. At least, that's what the librarian told them. There was a ton of books in that building. Given the sales pitch, they'd be able to find whatever they were looking for in there.

"Yeah, I doubt that's going to pan out." He said, shaking his head on her dumb plan. The worst part about it that neither of them were aware of was that Mifuru had no clue how to use a computer. So some unfortunate mishaps occurred which led to her being banned from the library. "Looks like I'll be stuck with all of you for a while longer."

"Well, don't make it sound like you're looking forward to me leaving." She said, sounding a bit hurt from his choice of words. "I thought we were cool."

"I hate to sound rude, but it would be nice if I could get back my normal life." It wasn't that he hated being with Rame, or really any of the others despite some growing grievances. But Juuto had been content with the life he had, even if most would consider it boring. That was something he just enjoyed living, and having them here was the opposite of that. "And you know what, you guys don't get to control my life."

"What are you trying to say?" Her eyes squinted at him, knowing where this was going to lead.

"I'm going to call that woman I met the other day." He announced to her, loud and clear. "I think I've been hanging around you guys so much, I'm starting to forget what normal even is here."

"You wouldn't dare." She got upset over his decision. "Come on, haven't we learned from last time you need to be careful around strangers?" There was a point raised by her that made logical sense. Marie did cause them worry when neither of them knew she was from Enatis. Though thankfully they were able to get out of that situation thanks to the help of the other.

That said, even if she was raising good logical points, that didn't mean her main reason for opposing this was lacking in emotion. If anything, on the inside she was more emotional about it than she let on. "Why do you think trying to date someone is a good idea?"

"Hey, I already told you that there's nothing wrong with me pursuing new relationships." He countered. "Besides, I'm a grown man. It's not like I need to be listening to any of you on what to do." Juuto even suggested that if she didn't trust Migane to be a regular human, that she could meet with the others. It was thanks to Akitomo that they even were able to recognize Marie, so maybe one of them could help them again. Surely people considered heroes would know a fair bit of faces on their world.

"Fine then, and we'll show you she can't be trusted." While rame was confident she'd win out in the end, it wasn't likely that anyone would know who she was even if this was a person from Enatis. Though really, why would someone from there be specially targeting him now? With all the others now around, it wasn't worth the effort that Marie initially believed it to be.

"Fine. Hmpf." The pair immaturely turned up their heads and looked away from each other. That would be fine, but quickly turned awkward considering they still needed to work together. "Just going to... Look at the shelves I guess..." He said, realizing how weird it was of them to be doing this while still having to stand next to each other.

After a shift that felt like it lasted an eternity, Rame was finally able to find herself back home at nearly 3 in the morning. She hated that time, since it got her hopes up from hearing everyone talk about how it was a time when spirits were at their strongest. Not once during this time did the girl ever feel the energy of anything that wasn't her own weak dark magic.

"You're home." As per usual, Mifuru was there to greet her. She was more than willing to stay up these late hours as there was nothing better to do during the morning. All the cleaning and cooking could be handled later for when they were up and about during the afternoon. "Did something happen? It appears that milady seems upset."

"I just can't believe the nerve of him." She answered. "Talking about how he wants to hang out with this woman he just met."

"Um, that is cause for concern." The servant was aware of the possible implications of anyone meeting him being a source of danger. In fact, she felt that about literally every single person any of them had met. That was just her suspicious nature in order to ensure the safety of her leader. "Should I run a check on her?"

"Nah, he's going to be bringing her along to meet everyone anyway." Rame had no worries about that meeting. Even if it was a dangerous person, they wouldn't dare attack while surrounded by everyone else. "We'll take care of things there."

"Milady..." Mifuru was doubtful on if she should bring this next subject up. It brought about hesitance before finally speaking up. "I don't want to sound like I'm disobeying you, but I feel that your reasoning with this man isn't purely logical."

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm worried about letting unknown people into our ranks."

"Except, one who's only going to be a friend of his, or even romantic interest, isn't someone joining our ranks." Even by most definition, people like Asaga, Akitomo, and Marie were not members of their ranks. Simply enemies forced to be allies for the time being considering the circumstances. "I do not believe you are thinking your actions through in your mind, just as you didn't with Marie."

"I... I-I don't need to answer that." Rame got a bit flustered by being called out like this. "Whatever, we'll worry about it when the time comes. Now, I'm tired, so I'm heading to bed." Of course, she wished to get some privacy to think things away from her loyal servant. Unfortunately, they were poor and living in a small unit designed for one person. So they ended up sleeping next to each other as always.