"Something Came Up"
The previous evening, during dinner.
Kain had been eating pork cutlet when he received a call. With his usual indifferent expression, he spoke up.
"Looks like I'll be away from home for a few days starting tomorrow."
It was from that moment onward that Layla's soaring mood—buoyed by her growing friendship with him—came crashing straight to the ground.
Is this what they mean by a lucky day?
She had taken a walk in the park with her uncle, made plans to go out and play together during vacation, and even built a close enough bond with Layla Ruby to call each other sisters. Things had been going almost suspiciously well, one after another.
Who would have thought a massive trap like this was waiting at the end?
"I'll probably leave around the time you head to school tomorrow. So make sure you lock the doors properly while I'm gone. Not that anything dangerous will happen, though."
Because Jealousy would be guarding her the entire time he was away. Even if a burglar broke in, the real danger would be to the intruder. Arina would be so safe she wouldn't even notice the break-in had occurred.
"Yes, Uncle."
She answered, but from that moment on, Arina was only half-listening to what Kain said. It made sense—she had never been apart from him for this long in the past two years.
Every day when he came home, her uncle would flop onto the sofa without so much as a greeting and tap away at his smartphone. The thought of that same uncle being gone for several days felt incredibly strange.
What could it be about?
He was almost always at home, but whenever he did go out, he always took her with him. Well, to be precise, she was usually the one who tagged along, but he had always asked if she wanted to come first.
This time, though, there had been no such question. It was as if he had no intention of bringing her at all.
Was it consideration because she was attending the academy? Or was he heading somewhere so dangerous he couldn't take her along?
If it was the former, that was fine. But if it was the latter...
"Haa."
Burdened with worry for her uncle, Arina let out a deep sigh that seemed to deflate the desk in front of her.
"Is something the matter?"
Marily asked, watching her with concern. What on earth had happened to leave her so drained all day?
"Ah, well..."
Arina explained the situation. Marily tilted her head in confusion.
Just because of that?
Having sent off her own brother without any particular reluctance last time, Marily found it a bit difficult to fully understand Arina's feelings at first. But once she shifted her perspective slightly, it clicked right away.
"I suppose if everyone who lived in my house suddenly disappeared one day, it would feel rather strange."
"No, it's a little different from that."
If everyone in the royal palace disappeared, wouldn't that be a real catastrophe? If something like that happened, the emptiness she would feel would be on a completely different scale from Arina's. In fact, the idea of being the only person left in that vast palace might even be terrifying.
To dismiss it with something as simple as "it would feel strange"... No matter how many times she saw it, Marily really did have nerves of steel.
"Then will you be alone at home for the time being?"
At that moment, a memory from the previous night flashed through Marily's mind. She had been practicing with a magic tool and thought it would have been much more fun if Arina had been there beside her.
Looking at it that way, this was quite the perfect opportunity, wasn't it?
"In that case, would you like to stay at my house for a while?"
"What?"
Her house? As in the royal palace? The palace where the king and the prince lived together?
"Eeeeeek?!"
At Marily's suggestion, Arina's eyes widened as she let out a startled scream mixed with panic.
In the current era, if you asked for the fastest means of transportation, the name airship would undoubtedly be the first to leave people's lips.
In that sense, Kain's choice to take the magic train instead of an airship seemed rather puzzling. Even if same-day tickets were sold out, he could have simply told Pride and the man would have secured one—even if it meant paying extra.
But Kain had his own reasons.
If he rode an airship, it would remind him of his older sister who had died on her honeymoon trip two years ago.
It wasn't exactly a feeling of longing or sadness. If he had to describe it, it was closer to irritation and annoyance. Why did she have to keep hovering in front of him even after death and bother him like this?
Besides, given their destination, he could already picture exactly how much his sister would torment him if he took an airship. He didn't even need to experience it to know.
"......"
He stared silently out the window, lost in thought.
Even though he was leaving the capital for a long journey after quite some time, his outfit was remarkably simple. Black cotton pants and white sneakers. A pure white short-sleeved t-shirt with a cartoon character—whether it was a lion or a mole was unclear—printed in the center, topped with a navy sleeveless cardigan. The only item he carried was a single smartphone.
He had told Arina he would be gone for a few days, yet there was no bag or spare clothes in sight. All daily necessities and anything else he might need were stored in his subspace, so there was no reason to pack them. Still, to anyone watching, he looked exactly like someone who had just stepped out for a casual stroll in the nearby park.
Ding.
At that moment, his smartphone buzzed in his pocket.
When he took it out and turned on the screen, a message from Arina caught his eye.
He hadn't been particularly worried anyway. As he had told her before, no matter what danger came, Jealousy would protect her. And if he failed, the guy would die himself—so of course he would protect her with everything he had if he wanted to live.
Is this Marily the princess I met last time?
Living in the royal palace, huh...
It didn't really matter where Arina stayed while he was gone, but the thought of her entering the royal palace did make things a bit awkward for Jealousy, who was supposed to guard her. No matter how much of an infiltration expert Jealousy was, sneaking into the royal palace—where numerous superhumans and even the Majoan, one of only five Absolute Beings on the continent, resided—would be quite the difficult task.
He was probably suffering quite a headache about it right now.
Well, he'll manage somehow.
In that particular field, Jealousy was far more capable than he was. There was no need to worry about him.
Kain sent a quick reply saying he understood and slipped the smartphone back into his pocket. Then he turned his gaze back to the scenery outside the window.
The Underworld.
A forbidden zone that no living being could approach. The world of the dead ruled by the absolute transcendent known as the Pluto.
If one were to distinguish a being called a god in this world, then Pluto would undoubtedly qualify. The dignity and power he held in the afterlife were so immense that even Kain could not afford to take them lightly.
In a sense, the entire realm of the afterlife could be called one massive Inner World belonging to Pluto.
I'd rather not have to fight if possible.
If he killed Pluto, the order of the world would collapse and things would become incredibly troublesome.
His purpose in heading to the Underworld was strictly to have a conversation with Pluto and accurately assess the current situation. As long as they didn't pick a fight first, there was no reason for him to fight either.
But if they started throwing around the laws and rules of the world to pick a quarrel, he had no intention of avoiding the fight.
No matter who it was—even if it was Pluto, who stood in a position akin to a god. If anyone tried to stand in his way, he would kill them without hesitation.
"......"
While Kain was lost in thought, the scenery outside slowly began to flow backward. The magic train gradually picked up speed as it headed toward its destination.
Toward the Emulin Countship, where the passage to the Underworld was believed to have opened.
Alcohol, drugs, gambling, slavery.
These were the first things ordinary people thought of when they heard the word underworld.
There was one more. Another business item that could never be left out of the underworld: women.
Brothels were also an indispensable part of the underworld, and the woman standing before Pride right now was the one who oversaw every single brothel in the entire underworld.
"It's been a while."
Lust, one of the Seven Deadly Sins of the underworld. The being commonly known as the Queen of the Night.
At Pride's words, Lust, who had been sprawled on the sofa, turned her head to look at him. Her long purple hair shifted with the movement. The strap of her half-undone negligee slipped down, openly revealing the generous curves of her breasts and their peaks.
"It has, hasn't it?"
She yawned as if still half-asleep and sat up from the sofa. Then she fixed the fallen negligee strap and rubbed her sleepy eyes.
"Did you stay up late again last night playing with some man?"
Pride walked over and sat down across from her. Countless empty bottles—presumably what she had been drinking all night—were scattered across the table.
"Could you not say it like that? I gave up men a long time ago."
"You still haven't given up that empty delusion? No matter what you do, the Master will never pay any attention to a whore like you."
"Hmph, that's not it at all."
The Master was an existence that could never be monopolized by a single woman. That was why Lust didn't even hope for him to look only at her.
"I just want to become a woman who is a little closer to the Master, that's all."
For that purpose, she had cut off everything that might give him a bad impression. Of course, the Master probably wouldn't care about such things, but there wasn't a single man in the world who would look favorably upon a woman who rolled around with multiple partners.
"That's precisely why it's an impossible delusion."
Excluding the Master's family—Kayen, Nasara, and Arina Grant—the only one in this world who could get close to him was himself. As long as he stood firmly in that path, Lust's wishes would remain nothing but delusions forever.
"Hmph, so what? No matter what anyone says, I'm the one who took the Master's virginity."
"You forced yourself on him before he had even fully grown up."
"Have you forgotten? The Master never forgets a grudge. The fact that I'm still alive proves that he must have enjoyed that memory, don't you think?"
"The one who is truly more useful to the Master is not you, but me. I, too, can gladly offer this body of mine the moment the Master desires it."
"...Could you stop? The Master would get seriously pissed off by that."
As far as she knew, while the Master was indifferent to everything in the world, his sexual values were perfectly normal like any other man. If he were here right now, wouldn't he immediately freak out and slam Pride's head down onto the table?
"That's exactly why you will never succeed. The Master personally grabbing my head and pressing it against the table—I wouldn't be able to thank him enough."
"A gay with an M tendency... This is definitely something even I can't compete with. It's too powerful."
Maybe the title of Lust should have gone to this guy instead of me.
At the rather perverted confession, Lust scooted her hips to the side with a sour expression, putting some distance between them.
"Why didn't you answer the phone?"
Pride asked, casually ignoring her reaction.
"Can't you tell just by looking? I drank too much and slept in late."
Had there been a call? She turned on the smartphone that had been trapped under her butt and saw one missed call.
"What? Only one call?"
"One is enough to understand the situation. No need to do more than that."
"Yeah, sure, you're so great."
Seeing that arrogant attitude, it really seemed like Pride suited him better than Lust. His face might look incredibly old, but he was still younger than her.
"So what is it? If you're going to give me work, I'd rather you just get it over with quickly."
She had only finished a job the day before yesterday and wanted to rest for a while. Unlike the workaholic in front of her, her delicate body occasionally needed proper rest.
"It's work for the Master."
"...You annoying bastard."
When he put it like that, she couldn't refuse.
"Right now, you're the only one with free time."
"What about Sloth?"
"Do you really think that girl would do the job I gave her properly?"
"......"
Checkmate. She had no way out.
Letting out a deep sigh of resignation, she grabbed the half-empty bottle on the table and drank it down.
"Haa, so what is it?"
"Investigate the Church."
"Investigation isn't exactly my specialty."
That kind of thing should be left to Jealousy. Ah, but wasn't he busy guarding the young lady?
"But why the Church? Did they pull some nonsense again?"
"Not yet. But it looks like they will soon. Or they might have already done it."
"Then I guess it can't be helped."
This was definitely work for the Master. She had been planning to refuse if it didn't seem necessary after hearing the details.
"Fine. I'll do it, so get out of here already."
"Don't go back to sleep. Start moving immediately."
"I'm not going back to sleep, okay? I'm going to change clothes, so hurry up and get out! You workaholic pervert!"
Pride neatly caught the flying bottle and stood up, dodging the hysterical Lust.