Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Hell's Circumstances #02
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The authority of the three great lords who rule over the single world known as Hell boasts a tremendous prestige that surpasses even the emperors of humanity or the Demon King beyond the barrier.
They transcend mere lords, serving as objects of faith akin to gods for demons.
By worshiping them and offering tributes, demons gain the right to live, acquire power, and have their existence acknowledged.
However, gods do not rule. They merely reign through fear as their medium.
The true rulers of Hell are the archdemons, the kin who have sworn direct loyalty to the great lords.
Yet even among archdemons and their kin, their authority is not equal.
Asmodeus's kin, who sow wicked schemes that make even their own subordinates distrust and fight each other, are constantly tested on their worthiness.
Beelzebub's kin, who have built a thoroughly fascist empire based on hierarchical order, are promised treatment and authority in accordance with the laws established by Beelzebub himself.
On the other hand, Mephisto... is slothful. Thus, his kin, who swear loyalty solely through contractual oaths, wield great power and authority equivalent to the great lords within their own territories.
The territories of Mephisto's twelve kin each boast vastness that makes human empires look laughable, and among them, the territory of Genie—the Demon of Contracts and direct vassal to the Lord of Contracts, Mephisto—is the wealthiest and most powerful among all demons excluding the great lords.
And Al'Miraz, the heir who would inherit that mighty territory, opened her eyes in a bedroom adorned with jewels so lavish that the imperial audience chambers of human empires seemed like dog kennels and the banquet halls of sultanates appeared shabby.
"Ugh...! Sleeping in Hell after so long feels so refreshing and wonderful."
Twitch twitch. As the black horns on the yellow rabbit glimmered, the maids waiting outside the bedroom slowly opened the door and entered.
"Did you sleep well, Lady Al'Miraz? We shall assist you with preparations for your morning meal."
"Yawn... Yes, please do."
As Al'Miraz yawned languidly and gave permission, the 99 maids who had been preparing for her entered all at once, beginning to clean her room and ready her clothes.
If Arthin had witnessed this scene, his reaction to Al'Miraz—and to Mephisto—would have been entirely different. Such overwhelming authority and treatment was simply par for the course for Al'Miraz.
"What shall you wear today? Your usual purple rabbit suit?"
"No, since I might be summoned anytime, I'll go with the fine garments offered by the desert humans that I always wear."
Tap tap. With two stomps of her foot, Al'Miraz began shifting from her horned rabbit form to human guise, and the maids accordingly started adorning her body.
"What about Father and Mother? Are they already up?"
"The master and madam have already finished preparing for breakfast. It's been weeks since their last meal, so the master's anticipation is quite high."
At those words, Al'Miraz could only let out a hollow laugh.
Her father, an archdemon over three thousand years old, missing her over mere days was rather ridiculous.
"Treating me like a child still is nothing but trouble."
But at the same time, it was familiar to Al'Miraz, coming from a father who had doted on her talentless self her entire life and boasted about her endlessly.
'...I absolutely have to keep it secret that I've joined the harem of my human teacher Arthin.'
If such a father learned that a puny human not even a century old had stolen away his precious daughter, he would probably try to burn the human world to the ground.
Al'Miraz resolved firmly in her heart, then led her 99 attendant maids to the dining hall once her preparations were complete.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Come in! My proud heir!"
"Ugh... Good morning, Mother, Father."
Al'Miraz frowned at the booming voice of her father, Genie—the great archdemon whose roar shook the entire dining hall—but she still offered her dignified greetings, mindful of her sensitive hearing.
"Oh my, look at our Al'Miraz greeting us so maturely! Just two years ago, she was cooing 'Mommy~ Daddy~' and fooling around in her room like it was yesterday!"
"Th-that was when I was a child! I'm now a full-fledged member of the twelve vassals and the representative of our house!"
"Sniff! How did our Al'Miraz grow so composed?!"
As her massive father, an archdemon over 5 meters tall, began sniffling dramatically, a complex expression formed automatically on Al'Miraz's face.
How could this powerful archdemon, who had once swept away enemy armies with a mere finger snap during the Great War, display such undignified behavior?
"Hehe, don't look at him like that, Al'Miraz. Do you know how much your father worried about you every single day after you entered Mephisto-sama's palace?"
The sight of her mother—a beastkin demon just over 170 cm tall—patting her enormous father only amplified the irony of the scene.
"You, who couldn't even cast basic low-tier magic as a demon, have now succeeded in hellfire magic? Your dad wept so bitterly upon hearing..."
"W-was it really something to cry over like that?"
"Of course! I gave birth to you inheriting your dad's talents, yet watching you fail at simple telekinesis with that immense mana made me so frustrated!"
"Sob! Don't say that, dear! It's all my fault!"
As her fiery-tempered mother scolded, leaving Al'Miraz flustered, Genie shielded her while wailing so hard his blue skin turned even bluer.
"Even with the greatest teachers in Hell gathered, seeing you unable to cast basic spells broke my heart! What use is omnipotent authority? This pathetic father who couldn't even care for his own daughter feels so sorry!"
"F-Father, calm down... I'm a successful demon now, even acknowledged by Mephisto-sama, right?"
It took Al'Miraz and her mother a full ten minutes of soothing before the wailing of the doting archdemon father, Genie, finally subsided.
'At this rate, sleeping next to Teacher feels way more comfortable than home...'
Surveying the finally calmed dining hall, Al'Miraz at last picked up her knife and fork to begin eating.
"So, what have you been up to in the human world lately? You went there on Mephisto-sama's orders, right?"
"Oh... nothing much. I contracted with a witch to help one of Mephisto-sama's friends..."
"Assisting a friend of Mephisto-sama?! How is that 'nothing much,' Al'Miraz?! This dad has served Mephisto-sama for thousands of years and never even seen someone close to a friend!"
"My goodness~ It looks like our Al'Miraz has more trust than you! Should we throw a festival?"
"...That's exactly why I'm asking you not to treat me like a child anymore, Mother, Father."
Though she said that, Al'Miraz barely suppressed the upward tug at her lips.
She, once the shame of the family, was now its pride and practically the bearer of its future.
"Plus, I'm super busy practicing magic these days~ I might not be able to come home until the mission ends..."
"So, who's the man you're seeing lately, dear?"
"Pfft!!"
At her mother's sudden question, Al'Miraz spat out her coffee mid-sip and pounded her chest violently.
"Cough! Cough! Mother, what do you...?"
"Oh, come off it~ Do you think your mom, the Demon of the Hunt, wouldn't notice? No archdemon can match me in that department. Dressing up every day and making those girly faces? How could I not know?"
Caught red-handed. Her mother had probably waited through breakfast just to ask this.
"...What are you talking about, dear? A man?"
Crack!!
As the archdemon revealed a sliver of rage, the windows illuminating the dining hall began to shatter.
"Ah, well..."
A wise or mature woman would have hidden her romance here. Drawing the ire of an archdemon like Genie toward a mere mortal like Arthin could lead to dire consequences.
"...Wh-while learning magic from the human who's a friend of Mephisto-sama, things just... hehe."
The problem was that Al'Miraz was fundamentally a bit of an airhead demon.
"Oh my~ With a human friend of Mephisto-sama?! What kind of guy is he? Handsome? Personality? What does he do?"
"Hmm... He's incredibly cool! Way beyond the demons of beauty! He has a lot of women around him, but... I swooped in first!"
"Goodness, you've got that from your mom! Well done! You have to snag good men first, regardless of race!"
Genie couldn't keep up with the two women's conversation.
'...A human? Handsome? Lots of women?? Our innocent girl snagged him?!?'
Which damn puny human had seduced his pure daughter?
Feeling rage enough to burn his entire territory, Genie moved to question Al'Miraz about the man.
"Al'Miraz, what kind of bas... that human—"
Boom!!
"Pardon the intrusion! Is Lady Al'Miraz here?"
"Lotus? What's the matter?"
Interrupting Genie was Lotus, the most veteran upper imp among Mephisto's palace couriers, who burst through the door.
"Mephisto-sama has summoned you directly for an urgent matter!!"
"Cough, Mephisto-sama...?"
No way—punishment for fooling around with her teacher? Al'Miraz's face paled.
"He's in a great fury right now! I'll use the dimension stone, so you must head to the palace immediately!"
"W-wait. I need to prepare my heart...! Or at least a will...!"
"No time! Apologies to Master Genie and madam! Let's go!"
"Wait! We still have things to discuss...!!"
Genie reached out to stop her, but the determined upper imp Lotus grabbed the fleeing Al'Miraz and activated the teleportation magic to Mephisto's palace.
Whoosh!
After the sound of space tearing—
"You okay? She's an adult now; dating is normal. Don't get so mad, relax your face."
Genie's dream of a heartwarming breakfast with his daughter shattered, leaving only his wife to pat his back.
"...That human who dares... touch my daughter... unforgivable...!"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Wh-what's the matter, Mephisto-sama...?"
Tremble tremble. A terrified rabbit approached the girl seated on the jade throne—
Of course, that rabbit was Al'Miraz, heir to the archdemon Genie, and the girl on the throne was Hell's great lord, Mephisto.
'Is this... immediate execution? Like Lava General...? No, it can't be...?'
Upon entering the audience chamber, Al'Miraz had reverted to her favorite yellow rabbit form of Mephisto, hoping desperately to avoid death.
"...Gnash."
'Nope, I'm dying right here.'
But as Mephisto glared at the crystal orb, grinding her teeth in a fury she'd never shown before, Al'Miraz nobly accepted her doom.
'Should've written a will beforehand... Teacher...'
As she regretted not sharing one more conversation, kiss, or moment, tears welled in the rabbit's eyes while Arthin's face flickered in her mind...
"My little rabbit."
Mephisto, who had been silently staring at the crystal orb, turned to Al'Miraz.
"Y-yes?!"
"Why so startled? More importantly, you have a task."
"A-a task, you say...?"
Wondering if it meant offering her life, Al'Miraz tensed as Mephisto beckoned, summoning a figure in the air.
"Th-this? A human woman...? She looks familiar..."
"Naturally. You've seen her several times drifting in Violet's memories. That's Olga Virtus, one of Arthin's women, the saintess."
"...Ah! The kind and benevolent woman Teacher praised so highly?"
Bam!!
"Eek?!"
"What 'kind and benevolent'?! That woman's blacker-hearted than Asmodeus herself—a venomous spider!"
As Mephisto slammed the throne's armrest, a volcano erupted somewhere in Hell, and thunderbolts crashed down.
"I still remember...! To claim Arthin, who must defeat the Demon King, she fed him, housed him, soothed him, all while cunningly drawing him into her skirts...!"
"...W-wasn't that just diligent wifely support...?"
"Support means something productive, like what Agnes does! That woman turns her man into a wreck who can't live without her!"
'M-Mephisto-sama this emotional... only saw it once when she cried over Teacher...'
Al'Miraz once again felt how passionately divine Mephisto could be, and bowed her head.
"Th-then, what must I do, Mephisto-sama?"
"...Regrettably, Arthin won't heed me. No matter how I warn him of her danger, he ignores it."
Tsk. Mephisto clicked her tongue and waved her hand, banishing the detestable Olga from view.
"So, you—my rabbit—take that half-baked Violet, the saintess's counter, and thwart her schemes diligently. Use any means necessary."
"C-can I... handle a woman comparable to Asmodeus-sama?"
Gulp. As Al'Miraz's plump rabbit throat swallowed, Mephisto flashed the sinister smile she'd shown Arthin.
"Did I permit you in Arthin's arms for any other reason?"
"Eh...?"
"If Arthin gets ruined in that wretched woman's skirts... even I don't know where my wrath will turn."
'I'm screwed.'
Al'Miraz felt it clearly. Her lord's words were straightforward.
Fail to stop that saintess, and she'd die for cutting in line.
"Now go, obey my command. Cling to Arthin's side or sway the other women as you will!"
Al'Miraz's face had long drained of color, but fortunately, her fluffy yellow fur hid it.
'Gotta write that will in advance this time...'