The Demon's Secret Past
I held Runi in my arms, unable to let her go for quite some time.
After all, such a lovely and adorable creature deserved to remain buried in my embrace forever.
“Ugh… *huff*!”
“Oh my, you managed to get out.”
“I almost died being buried in your chest.”
After struggling for a while, Runi finally wiggled free and began to look around the space we were in.
“Now that I look at it, it looks like a normal mansion. Though the scenery outside is quite unfamiliar.”
“This is called a Domain.”
“A Domain?”
“Yes, it’s a private space granted to demons who govern human desires.”
“Then is this a safe place?”
“That’s right. Only I and the demons bound to me can enter.”
As I agreed that it was safe, she let out a rather deep sigh.
I had been relieved that she didn't seem too hung up on Ingrid's sudden attack.
But seeing her let out a sigh of relief, it seemed that a sense of unease that couldn't be easily dismissed had taken root in her heart.
Part of me wanted to take Runi and return to the human world, but I still had work to finish.
“Runi.”
“Yes?”
I slowly stroked her hair and met her eyes.
“I still have some things I need to take care of. Could you wait for me here for a little while?”
“When that’s done… are we going back?”
“Yes. The demons here will attend to your needs and protect you.”
“How long will it take?”
I couldn't give her a definitive answer to that question.
I simply said:
“I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
It was nothing more than a formal, empty promise.
“Okay, I understand.”
To provide even a little comfort to Runi, who still looked anxious, I lightly pressed my lips to hers.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“You have to come back quickly.”
After she nodded, I hugged her one more time.
This time, I pulled her softly into my chest, wanting her to feel as much warmth as possible.
With one final stroke of her hair, I left the Domain and set out to handle the remaining business.
The place my footsteps led me to was the Garden of Desire.
It was the gathering place for all demons who govern human desires, much like a meeting hall for humans.
Sloth, Greed, Envy, Pride, Gluttony, and Wrath.
All the demons who govern human desires were seated around a round table, waiting for me.
“You’re quite relaxed for someone who crawled in last, aren't you?”
We were merely bound by the same species of 'demon'; if a serious conflict were to arise, we were enemies who could take each other's lives at any moment.
The one who sneered the moment I stepped into the Garden of Desire was Leviathan, the demon who governs Envy.
“Everyone else is keeping quiet, yet you just have to throw a jab to try and scratch at my nerves.”
“What did you say?”
“Want me to say it again?”
Leviathan was the one among all the demons of desire who showed the most blatant hostility toward me.
The reason was simple: I am the demon who governs Lust.
Demons who govern desire live by embodying the very desire they represent more intensely than anyone else.
That is their essence and their nature.
Of course, not every demon only feels the desire they are responsible for.
They might show arrogance while looking at humans, eat food because they are hungry, or feel rage when things don't go as planned.
Lust is no exception.
However, beyond the characteristic of living with intense lust, I possess another unique trait.
Namely, that I possess both female and male genitalia.
Leviathan finds that fact more disagreeable than anyone else.
While all other demons possess only one characteristic, I alone possess two.
“There’s an interesting rumor going around lately, isn't there? That Belial, the demon who governs Lust, is living happily with a human.”
I didn't know where she had heard such information, but it made me frown.
“Your face is twisting. So it wasn't a rumor, but the truth?”
“If you keep flapping that mouth of yours, it might just get torn off.”
“If you can tear it, then go ahead and try.”
-*CRACK!*
Just as I unsheathed my sharp claws, Verdan, the demon who governs Wrath, slammed his hand down hard on the round table.
“I’ve been listening quietly, and it’s making me angry.”
“You’re always angry, aren't you?”
“Is this a private space for the two of you? Take your seat, Belial.”
“Fine, I get it.”
“The reason we have gathered in the Garden of Desire is because a rat has entered Gehenna.”
Hearing the reason why all the demons had gathered, Runi flashed through my mind.
If the 'rat' Verdan mentioned was truly Runi, I would turn all these demons into my enemies right now if I had to.
“They say some demon keeps bringing living humans into Gehenna.”
I retracted the sharp claws I had unsheathed under the table.
It was because I immediately knew who that demon was.
Who else could it be?
It had to be Ingrid.
“And that demon is…”
“A demon bound to me, right?”
-*CLANG!*
As I interrupted Verdan’s words, a heavy greatsword was slammed into the table in front of me.
“Such a temper.”
“Belial, you know that interrupting me is the thing I hate most.”
Why are the demons who govern human desires so broken in personality?
Well, I suppose I’m included in that.
“I just knew exactly what you were going to say next.”
“*Yaaawn*… I’m sleepy, can’t we finish this quickly? The conclusion is just to tell Belial to manage her subordinates better, right?”
Moros, the demon who governs Sloth, woke from his slumber and waved his arms listlessly.
“Moros.”
“I’m sleepy. Let’s finish this. *Yaaawn*…”
“I have already punished her sufficiently. Such things will not happen again.”
“If something like this happens again, I will hold you directly responsible, Belial.”
“Yes, yes, I understand. Are we done now?”
At my words, the demons, with the exception of Verdan, rose from their seats.
They are a group that shows absolutely no sense of unity, no matter how many times I see them.
“Calling us to the Garden of Desire for something as trivial as this. What a waste of time.”
Since they hadn't called us together in a while, I had thought they were going to discuss something of great importance.
A yawn escaped me at the lack of even a shred of tension in the discussion.
“Belial, you’d better be careful.”
“A little brat who’s small in both chest and height is chirping away.”
“What did you say?!”
“Little brat, you’re stuck in that form because you keep getting angry over such trivial things. Why don’t you govern Wrath instead?”
After properly scratching at Leviathan’s nerves, I waved my hand leisurely and snapped my fingers to vanish from the scene.
While my sister was away, I sat blankly in the room that appeared to be a bedroom.
It was incredibly boring, especially since I had no idea when she would return.
-*Creak!*
“Excuse me…”
“Yes, Lady Runius.”
When I poked my head out of the bedroom, five demons surrounded me.
The pink-haired demon who had tried to harm me was nowhere to be seen.
“Um… what are everyone’s names?”
I was so bored that I thought I might as well spend the time learning their names.
“I am Penny.”
“I am Ardia.”
“Ah… ah… Azure! That’s right. My name was Azure.”
“Her… cas.”
“Azaha… is my name.”
Except for the two who introduced themselves as Penny and Ardia, the other three seemed a bit lacking.
Soon, silence fell over us.
I had tried to soothe the boredom and awkwardness by starting with introductions, but the difference between the human and demon species made it no easy task.
“Um… would it be possible for me to look around the mansion?”
“Yes, that is possible. I will guide you.”
“Oh, okay.”
Penny, the demon who seemed quite composed, kindly offered to guide me around the mansion.
Come to think of it, Penny was also the demon who had answered my sister’s questions the fastest.
Was she like the person in charge?
“This is the dining hall.”
“So demons eat food as well.”
“Yes. It is not an essential requirement as it is for humans. You may think of it as an auxiliary activity.”
I thought looking around the mansion would be helpful in its own way, but it was much like when we were doing introductions.
There were countless rooms, but most of them were empty.
While following Penny and hearing nothing but “this room is empty” over and over, I thought this might be an opportunity.
An opportunity to learn more about my sister, who is a demon.
Everything I knew was limited to Belial Astharot as a human, so I had no information about Belial Astharot as a demon.
“Penny, how long have you been with my sister?”
“For a demon, counting time is meaningless. I can say it has been a significantly long time.”
“Then, what was your first impression when you met her?”
After thinking for a moment, Penny opened her mouth carefully.
“She was a being with whom it was impossible to even meet her eyes.”
“Was my sister’s presence that terrifying?”
“The Belial of the past was treated as a ruffian and a troublemaker in Gehenna.”
“What…? My sister?”
I doubted my own ears at the unexpected past of my sister.
Belial Astharot as a human is, of course, far from such an impression.
Even Belial Astharot as a demon, except when she is trying to ravish me, doesn't fit that description.
What on earth did she do to be treated as a ruffian and a troublemaker?
“That Belial suddenly began to change at one point.”
“When was that?”
“It was 13 years ago by human time.”
13 years ago.
That was when I was 7 years old, the time I first met her.
Since the timing matched perfectly, I began to think that the change in her had started from the moment she met me.
“Belial told me something like this.”
“What did she say?”
“That she had found a reason to live for the sake of one single existence.”
While I had previously dismissed such thoughts as overactive delusions, I began to deny the idea that it was a delusion at all.
“She even said things like this. Asking if this was what love felt like.”
“What…?”
“Of course, we do not know such emotions, so we told her we did not know.”
“By any chance… was that existence a human?”
“That existence is right beside me now. Lady Runius, it is you.”
At Penny’s words, my legs, which had been moving steadily, came to a sudden halt.
I felt a deep shock