Chapter 166
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: For Real
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It's often said that the beginning and end of cleaning is tidying up.
Scattered messily around the house gets properly sorted, unnecessary junk gets boldly tossed, long-lost items turn up again...
Anyway, without proper tidying, no matter how much you wipe away dust or sweep the floors, it just won't look clean. You could say organizing is the most crucial part of cleaning.
"Never thought I'd end up having to do this..."
I sighed in front of the mountain of junk piled up like a heap, clutching a rag and the [Restorer] in my hands. Wiping down the item until it gleamed and placing it neatly on the shelf caused the contamination level to drop ever so slightly.
'This is so damn infuriating. If you're gonna discard it, at least do it right instead of leaving it scattered like this...'
Fresh anger surged toward that faceless 'Greed' once more.
Was this how Mom felt every time she scolded me that 'there's people who tidy and people who discard'? Trying to sort through someone else's mess that I didn't even make myself just kept pissing me off.
"Oh. This one's still usable."
The one saving grace amid all the organizing was salvaging the occasional decent-looking item. Without that, I might've quit on the spot.
I carefully set aside a music box with a hidden gem that emerged after wiping off the rust.
"What the hell. Not here either?"
But even after placing the music box on the designated shelf for valuables, there was no change in contamination. So I tried the shelf for musical instruments instead.
-Current Contamination Level: 41.8%
"No clue what the criteria even is."
What pissed me off even more was that everything in this warehouse had to be organized with purpose—no random piling allowed. First, clean off the surface grime using the [Restorer] and such, but then it had to be sorted methodically, not just left lying around.
For example, that music box from earlier had a gem, but classifying it under instruments instead of valuables was what dropped the contamination...
'Reminds me of that game.'
There was this game where you unpacked moving boxes and placed items in their perfect spots in a new house.
It felt like a puzzle game in that you had to position everything just right... and somehow, what I was doing now felt eerily similar.
"Master. All these are wiped down."
"Yeah. Hand 'em over."
I took the cleaned items from my minions, who were helping wipe down objects with the [Restorer]. Doing this solo would take forever, but luckily, the [Restorer] worked for employees and even quasi-staff like my blood kin.
'The problem is, only I can see the contamination drop...'
So while they could handle the wiping, only I could sort and place. Ever since discovering this warehouse, I'd been holed up here, repeating the process nonstop.
No other urgent tasks anyway, and a bit more would hit 40% contamination for the reward...
.
.
.
.
"Is he always like that?"
"Pretty much."
While Eugene was stuck in the basement organizing the warehouse, Erzse and Batori were chatting upstairs. Batori's eyelid was bruised black and blue—probably from getting smacked by Lil again.
Batori, still adjusting to who Eugene really was, had pulled a weird face upon seeing him personally cleaning downstairs. Erzse nodded, understanding her feelings.
"Using all that immense power just for cleaning..."
Batori had gone down to help at Erzse's call and freaked out witnessing vast authority blooming from the hands of Erzsebet's master—her new lord as well.
Authority that seemed to manipulate time itself. And using it just to fix a teacup...
"That did surprise me too. I knew the master's abilities were exceptional and unique, but time manipulation..."
"Even Erzsebet didn't know?"
"Yeah. Just when I thought I was getting used to him, turns out I still haven't."
Batori had heard he was a fascinating guy who sparked curiosity in all sorts of ways, but she didn't know the specifics of his powers. This was a chance to ask Erzse about him—especially since he'd be her master alongside Erzsebet.
"Hm? The master's powers?"
Batori had only asked about Erzse's recent life so far, but this was her first question about the master. After a moment's thought, Erzse decided to show off one power that would especially resonate with a fellow blood demon like Batori.
"Check this out."
"Oh, I was gonna ask about that too... What's that? Erzsebet never used magic tools or anything..."
-Pssshhh!!!
"Eek?! Blood?"
Batori eyed the [High-Pressure Cleaner] Erzse offered curiously. When endless blood gushed from the odd staff that smelled nothing like blood at first, she panicked briefly before getting excited.
As a blood demon, she knew exactly how valuable this was.
"How much does it produce? Let me taste..."
"Ah. Wait—"
Excited, Batori brought the pooled blood to her lips. Erzse, who tried to stop her too late, cringed inwardly.
"Urk... Ptui! Ptui! What the hell is...?"
The taste was even worse than undead blood. Batori grimaced, face scrunched up. Smiling at her, Erzse explained the master's powers and his array of wondrous tools.
"...Items he gives women gush endless blood like this, and the one for the red demon girl produces pure flames..."
"Heh..."
Space traversal, instant recovery for kin, tools with infinite durability...
Starting to understand how this man had captured Erzsebet's interest, Batori listened as Erzse launched into a rant about the [High-Pressure Cleaner]'s greatness—then a sudden question popped into her head.
"Then that corpse... er, the Apostle of Pride..."
"Just call him Desik. Master's decided on it."
"Pfft... Ahem. R-Right, so what does Desik use? What comes out of his magic tool?"
"Hm?"
Erzse looked puzzled, as if she didn't get it, so Batori hurried to explain.
"Uh... Yesterday while doing laundry for a bit, I saw Eugene hand one of those same magic tools to Desik..."
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Goddamn it... Why does my luggage have to be such shit...?!!"
Desmond vented his rage, stomping innocent grass to calm down.
He was outside the ruins during the break Eugene had graciously given him. Deep down, he wanted nothing more than to cut ties with that bastard and bolt, but...
"Damn it!!"
With the Life Vessel now in Eugene's hands, Desmond couldn't leave.
The contract had undead-ified not just his body but his soul-bound Life Vessel, all handed over to that mongrel...
'Damn. Damn!'
Prideful Desmond stomped the grass again in frustration, but flinched when nearby trees rustled. He froze.
While unconscious, the Dryad had endlessly drained his vitality—his malice—imprinting itself as an absolute predator in his subconscious.
That's why, even with the mongrel giving him a break, he'd fled outside; staying in there felt like that tree was eyeing him hungrily.
'I, who shall rule over all creation, reduced to this...!'
Seeing himself flinch at a mere twig's sway crushed his pride further. He gnashed his teeth, but with body and soul owned, he was powerless for now.
At least playing obedient to the mongrel beat becoming that damned tree's prey.
'For now, bide my time...!'
Dreaming of revenge on the mongrel and tree who'd bruised his pride, Desmond absorbed the malice scattered outside the ruins to recover his depleted strength.
Recently, masses of lifeforms had died here; death's aura swirled amid the vibrant forest's life force.
"Huuuuwahp...!!"
With each breath, surging death energy filled his lungs, refilling his empty vessel.
'Just regain my strength.'
The contract theft, the tree draining him—it was all because he'd lost power and memories. Once fully restored, revenge on those bastards would come, Desmond told himself.
No way that puny mongrel's contract outranked his own undeading ritual. It was just his weakness...
"Search here. Find it."
"Hm?"
Gnashing his teeth to wash away the humiliation by sucking up death energy from where western demons had been slaughtered by Batori, an unfamiliar demon voice reached Desmond's ears.
Soon, strong life signs approached: a pack of demons including two massive giants.
"Scouts got hit?"
"Hmph. Losing to southern demons. Weaklings."
No affection for their fallen kin—if anything, blaming their weakness. These were the western stragglers.
Demons tracking the scouts to offer the Dryad to the Great Giant Gods' king stumbled upon Desmond.
"What're these pathetic worms?"
Already in a foul mood, Desmond glared fiercely at the demons daring to lay eyes on his noble form. He clicked his tongue and bestowed special mercy.
"Tch. Hordes of lowly scum swarming my domain... I'm busy now, so I'll show rare mercy. Don't waste my time—bow your flat heads and crawl away on all fours."
"...Is he insane?"
The giants, arrogant beyond any race, momentarily recoiled facing a 'true' one.