Chapter 32: A Season Spent in Hell (4)

“Ehem, ehem. I just remembered some urgent matters I have to attend to. It’s unfortunate, but let’s meet again if the opportunity presents itself, youngster.”

After saying those words, the wolfman quickly departed. He swore loudly at the lizardman as he left. I couldn’t hear him clearly, but it was mostly about how he had lost an opportunity to rip off a pushover because of him. They soon disappeared into the crowd.

There were hundreds of monsters heading towards the city on this wide road. Large and small incidents were occurring here and there.

“You bastard! Why’d you bump into me!?”

“Don’t pick a fight for no reason. I’d like to find out whether a frogman’s intestines actually smell like pork.”

“Haah? You whorish fox. I’ll put you in a manure pail and rub your face in it.”

“What utter nonsense like a contagious disease turning into leprosy. Hey, Mr. Reptilian who’s not only an absolute idiot but is also emanating a putrid smell that’s similar to the scent that comes from pig pens, do you want me to crack your skull open? Who knows? Maybe if that idiotic brain of yours gets a little fresh air, then it might become a little useful.”

“This whore bitch must have had her head soaked in alcohol since she’s insane. Want me to cut you with a dull knife? Huh?”

Two monsters that had the head of a fox and a frog respectively were butting heads as they growled at one another. The other monsters around them walked by nonchalantly as if this were a common occurrence. Individuals that appeared to be the two monsters’ friends were simply holding a small bet on the side to see who would win.

Okay.

I now have a rough understanding of the demon world.

If I were to compare it to something else, then similar to the notorious cities in my world like Libertalia, the Anglo-Burmese towns, LA, and Johannesburg, the laws of this region were created by outlaws and it was a place where competent outlaws could become leaders.

Scams and brawls happened publically even in the middle of the day. It isn’t hard to imagine how cruel and crafty these people would become once the sun has set. Awful individualism and vomit-inducing factional disputes most likely happen so often here that they’re how this place breathes.

‘Hah. That goblin attendant really taught me a good lesson.’

The initial excitement I had about coming here to get a breath of fresh air had already long vanished. I already knew through several mediums that the more lawless a city is, the more the pursuit of luxury and pleasure becomes extreme. Lapis will surely help me rest. However, until I meet Lapis, until I’m in the company of someone I trust, I can’t lower my guard.

I fixed my hat. The hat I was wearing in order to hide my Demon Lord horn. With a fresh mind, I walked to the checkpoint.

“Your gaze has improved.”

The employee at the checkpoint commented as she collected my toll. They were a tanuki person who looked like a genial raccoon.

“Earlier, you were like an uncertain infant, but now you look almost like some veteran riffraff. Oh, I should mention that that’s a compliment. I don’t know if you know this, but here in Niflheim, most affluent riffraff are superior to medium-rank demons.”

She then handed me a piece of paper with an address written on it.

“That’s an address to an inn that’s managed by the company I’m affiliated with. It isn’t a place where pieces of trash can touch. It’s twice as expensive as normal inns, but, at the very least, you won’t have to worry about waking up with some missing internal organs.”

“I appreciate it.”

The tanuki girl winked.

Once I exited the checkpoint, I could see a city on the horizon. It was a massive port city. Numerous vessels were sailing across the ocean without rest and there were dozens of roads connected to the city. The road I was on was nothing more than one of those roads. Even now, thousands of monsters were commuting down each individual road.

Riiiip.

I tore the piece of paper the tanuki girl had handed me into pieces. I could read her emotions as we conversed. It was greed.

Introducing wanderers to an inn she had connections with was most likely something she did on the side as an attendant. Receiving a fixed referral fee in return. What certainty was there that that fixed referral fee wasn’t a kidney or two from a guest? No one would come looking for an outsider, so they were the perfect target to bury.

I walked down the north road which Lapis had promised to send someone to welcome me at.

Shortly after, I encountered the individual who had been dispatched by the Keuncuska Firm. On the outside, he looked no different from a human, but he introduced himself as a vampire. It wasn’t hard to find him as he was holding a sign with the name 『Dantalian』written on it at the entrance of the city.

“Nice to meet you, Your Highness. My name is Vuffoet, a rank 3 personnel demon who has been assigned the task of guiding Your Highness to the accommodation which has been prepared for you by our firm. First things first, I promise Your Highness that while within Niflheim, you will never meet a life-threatening situation.”

I shared a friendly handshake with him. I could also feel genuine friendliness from him as well, so I was able to happily shake his hand without reserve. I wonder if it’s because he’s a vampire? His hand was as cold as ice. It didn’t particularly bother me, though.

“I am Dantalian, Rank 71st.”

Although I had been hiding my identity in fear of causing a commotion, since Lapis had told me repeatedly that a Demon Lord should always maintain at least the minimum amount of dignity, I decided to speak informally. There was no reason for me to hide my identity from this person.

Nevertheless, there was also no reason for me to assert my authority as a Demon Lord.

“There are many things that I do not know as this is my first time visiting Niflheim. In comparison, you are most likely an expert when it comes to this city. I will be in your care.”

“Of course.”

The young man’s eyes widened slightly before he soon broke out into a smile. A notification telling me that his affection had gone up by 1 appeared. It most likely went up because, contrary to his expectation, I behaved modestly despite being a Demon Lord.

“Among the esteemed Demon Lords that will be attending the Walpurgis Night, Your Highness Dantalian is the first to arrive. There is still approximately a week left before the function will be held. Until then, if Your Highness is uncomfortable or requires anything, then please inform me. The Keuncuska Firm will do its utmost to provide for Your Highness Dantalian.”

“Thank you. By the way, where is Lapis Lazuli?”

“She is near the lodging where Your Highness will be staying. Normally, it would only be natural for Miss Lazuli, the personnel in charge of Your Highness, to aid you, but…….”

Vuffoet smiled playfully.

“Various inconveniences are bound to follow if a female were to guide a male. As Niflheim is one of the greatest cities in the demon world, it is also the greatest vacation spot. As to how vacation spots usually are, Niflheim is no short of areas that are prohibited for women.”

Although it was embarrassing as my face was not used to speaking so directly, I didn’t let my emotions show.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

“We will get around to that soon. For starters, how about we go to Your Highness’ accommodation first? After Your Highness has unloaded your luggage, I will guide Your Highness to a good restaurant. Now then, let us travel on a carriage to…….”

Right when the young vampire named Vuffoet was about to start leading the way, I shook my head.

“No need. I will not be riding on a carriage.”

“Pardon me?”

“Furthermore, I did not bring anything with me that could be called luggage, so there is no need to go to my lodging first.”

I briefly surveyed my surroundings. We were in a simple marketplace that had been set up at the entrance of the city. Monsters trying to buy groceries, monsters trying to sell their products, monsters laughing and chatting with their friends as they went to go get a drink in the middle of the day, etc. It was aggressive, but they were overflowing with liveliness.

“I wish to have a look around the city. On foot, that is.”

“I understand. I will immediately take Your Highness to an entertainment district.”

“No.”

I shook my head once more.

“I want to see how the monsters here live their lives. There are numerous emotions being transmitted to me right now. Happiness, excitement, weariness, exhaustion, disgust, so many emotions. I can tell that they are all no different from me, a living being. I want to see in detail how these people truly live and how life here is like.”

This has always been my ideology when going on vacation.

Focusing my trip around scenic spots and historic spots is also fine. There’s a lot of entertainment and sentimental value in that as well. However, above all else, personally learning how the people there live their lives has a priority. There’s a chance that a historic spot which I revered as being amazing and beautiful was boring and disgusting for the populace in that area. A dull place to me could be a holy place for the people there. Not only enjoying the outer appearance of a place but also learning about the people who live around it, is this not the charm of traveling?

‘Most importantly, I’m curious as to how monsters manage a city.’

Most of the monsters here appeared to have a high level of intelligence. What sorts of conversations they had at bars, how they went on dates, and how their residential spaces looked, I wanted to know these things.

“……I think I understand Your Highness’ intent. It seems I will have to change today’s schedule.”

Vuffoet said, a little surprised.

“We will visit the 2nd and 4th districts then. They are both the oldest areas in Niflheim. Your Highness will be able to genuinely feel Niflheim’s regional characteristics as the residences there are mostly natives. However, there are only traditional restaurants there, so they might not suit Your Highness’ taste.”

“My body does not require nutrients anyway.”

That’s right. I no longer had to eat ever since I became a Demon Lord. Essentially, in <Dungeon Attack>, Demon Lords were both living beings and spirits at the same time. Their bodies are created and maintained by the magic in the ground.

“If anything, I feel excited about my first meal here. Now then, guide me.”

“…….”

Vuffoet gave me a peculiar look. At that moment, a strange combination of emotions was transmitted to me.

‘Hm? What’s this?’

Affection and longing? And a little bit of anger? It was an emotion that didn’t make sense for the other party to be feeling towards me in this current situation. I frowned a bit.

“Is there a problem?”

“I apologize, Your Highness. I just felt like Your Highness is different from the average Demon Lord.”

Vuffoet bowed. Well, according to everything I’ve heard until now, it seems that the other Demon Lords mostly do whatever they want, have personality disorders, and are totalitarianists. That’s why I surprised Lapis. Although I don’t care about how the other Demon Lords behave.

‘He felt affection towards me since I’m different from the other Demon Lords.’

The anger was probably directed towards those other Demon Lords. I could easily grasp the reasons behind his emotions. I grinned and asked him to guide me. I started feeling affection from Vuffoet again as if those previous strange emotions had never happened. He smiled back and walked next to me as he led the way.

‘I wonder what the longing was for?’

This question suddenly flashed through my head. Nonetheless, it didn’t particularly matter. People’s minds are profound and mysterious, so they are bound to react in their own respective variety of emotions according to the lives they have lived.

“Oh, right. Your Highness, it is incredibly rude to refer to the citizens here as monsters. The citizens here refer to the people of their kind that live outside of civilization and only off of their instincts as monsters. On the other hand, the people here refer to themselves as demons or demonkind.”

“Demons? Then is there no racial difference between monsters and demons?”

“That is correct. In truth, the standard of distinguishing between monsters and demons is exceedingly subjective…….”

I toured Niflheim while listening to Vuffoet’s detailed and clever explanations.

The streets were becoming narrower. This was proof that we were going further away from the main street.

“Compared to other places, Niflheim is a more recently established city. A short while ago, Niflheim was nothing more than a remote fishing village. Only 300 years have passed since a mere fishing village that was rotting away had transformed into a city of vice.”

Sure enough, I started to see housings. They were mostly 2-story stone houses. It was a refreshing shock to see a monster, no, a demon leisurely step out onto their roof in order to fold their laundry. They were basically like a South Korean auntie.

“The reason why this rough and lawless city wasn’t occupied by the powerful nobles of the demon world……was because the demons that had gathered here had combined their thoughts and desires for the past 300 years. For the sake of our mutual interests, we combined our strengths in order to safely create our professional ‘job’.”

Vuffoet explained that Niflheim was a type of republic city. There were 5 large firms gathered here and they claimed to be the leaders of this city. The Keuncuska Firm was one of those five companies.

“Of course, we are always hostile towards one another and constantly lock horns. Large conflicts between organizations are not rare. Nevertheless, we work together adamantly when it comes to outside threats. Therefore, gambling, scams, and violence are what creates Niflheim.”

Vuffoet smiled.

“It’s because we’ve overcome our internal strife and worked together that we were able to achieve 300 years of prosperity.”

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter! Not enough time has passed since I released the last chapter, so there isn’t much to say. Uh… I have a Patreon? I unno. Buy me a coffee as I start preparing for my finals next week. Aaaah.

I’ll see you guys in the next release.