Chapter 33 : Chapter 33
Chapter 33. Miss Marble Slab
Following the Beastfolk’s directions, the three of them passed through the bustling market district and turned into a dark alley.
At the end of the alley, they saw a shop with a tattered old sign hanging outside—
【Dawn Curio Shop】
The shop looked extremely old. The wooden doorframe had already begun to rot, and the whole place gave off a stale, moldy smell that felt utterly out of place beside the prosperous commercial street outside.
The three exchanged a glance, but none of them said anything. So Asmodeus stepped forward and knocked politely on the door.
“Excuse me, is the shopkeeper in?”
Creak—
The door opened.
What emerged was not some kindly old man, but a Dark Elf girl with wheat-colored skin and a lithe, athletic figure.
She had short silver hair, metal rings hanging from her pointed ears, and a face so exquisitely beautiful that it carried a wild, cold sort of charm.
Only...
Lilith’s eyes instinctively dropped to the girl’s chest.
「Pfft! So flat.」
Broad and level, flat as a plain! It was practically like two thumbtacks hammered into a door panel.
At the sight of that, Lilith smugly lifted her own chest a little.
But very quickly, her brows furrowed, and she thought to herself:
「Wait, no. What exactly am I feeling smug about? I do not need these two lumps of dead weight at all!」
“She’s not.”
While Lilith was still caught in that internal struggle, the Dark Elf girl looked Asmodeus up and down, then glanced at Lilith and Shier behind him. After throwing a huge eye-roll at Lilith’s enormous chest, she said irritably,
“Sorry, we only do business with regulars here. We do not receive strangers. Please leave.”
With that, she moved to shut the door.
“Wait.”
Asmodeus reached out and stopped the door panel, his tone as calm as ever.
“We came because we have something important to ask. We wished to inquire about the Grand Duke of Greed’s Three Trials. The Beastfolk butcher recommended this place to us.”
“Hah? That lizard-corpse peddler?”
Hearing that, the girl let out a scornful laugh. It seemed that the Beastfolk did not enjoy a particularly good reputation in Nevernight City.
Then the elf girl folded her arms over her chest and blocked the doorway, lifting her chin arrogantly as she declared in an overbearing tone,
“So what if he recommended you? What is he supposed to be worth? I am the acting shop manager here. If I say you are not coming in, then you are not coming in!”
As she spoke, she turned her gaze toward Lilith, and a flicker of jealousy and contempt flashed through her eyes.
“Especially not when you are bringing along a succubus like this, who clearly does nothing except seduce men! She reeks of sleaze. One look at you people and it is obvious you are no good. We do not welcome brainless dairy cows here, so please leave.”
“Hah??!”
She might have tolerated the girl’s bad attitude toward Asmodeus, but dragging her into it at the end was another matter entirely!
「Brainless dairy cow?」
「Who exactly are you calling that, you little brat?!」
Lilith, who had been in Sage Mode and calm as still water, felt her temper shoot up the instant she heard those words. Veins immediately popped up on her forehead.
Her cold expression gradually cracked apart, replaced by a faint smile curling at the corner of her lips—a smile full of nuclear-grade kindness.
Then Lilith stepped forward.
“A dairy cow?”
She deliberately thrust out her magnificent assets.
At the motion, a tidal swell rolled beneath the fabric, making Shier’s head spin. Then Lilith lowered her gaze toward the elf girl’s flat body with something close to pity in her eyes.
“Still better than certain people, isn’t it? If someone did not know better, they would think you were an underdeveloped goblin. What is it? Did all the flesh that was supposed to grow on your chest get redirected into your temper, Miss Marble Slab?”
“You! You!!!”
The moment those words landed, the Dark Elf girl exploded.
Miss Marble Slab?
Miss Marble Slab!
What kind of monstrous, accursed description was that?! In all her life, no one had ever described her with such vicious language before!
“You damned succubus! Die!”
As she shouted, the Dark Elf girl gathered magic in her palm and lunged at Lilith.
Lilith, of course, was not afraid of her in the slightest. She gathered magic as well and struck back—so the two girls’ hands locked together, fingers interlaced as each seized the other’s hands and shoved forward with all her strength.
But obviously, as the strongest succubus at the peak of the ninth rank, how could Lilith possibly lose to her?
In only a few moments, the Dark Elf girl began to lose strength and was forced backward step by step by Lilith.
“You—you succubus! You dairy cow! Let go!”
“You are still saying it? If you say those two words again, I will pin you to the ground and spank you black and blue, you pathetic little marble slab!”
“I am not a slab! Aaahhh!”
The Dark Elf girl was gradually losing her composure under the verbal assault. Unfortunately, she was not as strong as Lilith either, so all she could do was scream to bolster her momentum.
Fortunately, at that very moment, an old and authoritative shout came from deeper inside the shop.
“Stop! Who dares cause trouble here?!”
“Hm?”
Hearing that voice, Lilith finally let go of the girl, while Asmodeus and Shier also turned curiously toward the interior.
An elderly man came hobbling out, leaning on a cane, his face full of wrinkles and dressed in worn-out aristocratic clothing.
“Grandfather! They barged in by force!”
With tears in the corners of her eyes, the Dark Elf girl immediately pointed at Lilith in grievance, clearly trying to complain.
However—
The moment the old man’s eyes fell on Asmodeus’s face, his entire body froze.
In his cloudy old eyes, the anger there instantly solidified.
Then it transformed into shock, confusion, disbelief, and finally... burning tears that came pouring out.
“Th-This aura... this face...”
The old man was utterly stunned.
He threw away his cane, dropped to his knees with a thud as though he had witnessed a miracle, and shuffled forward on his knees toward Asmodeus without a single thought for dignity. Then he cried out in a shrill, grief-stricken voice:
“Your Majesty the Demon King! It is Your Majesty! It is you!”
“His Majesty the Demon King has returned! Your Majesty! You have finally returned! Waaaah! This is wonderful!”
With that, the old man burst into tears on the spot.
The Dark Elf girl, who had just been hoping her grandfather would back her up, stood there utterly dumbfounded.
“Huh?”
“The Demon King? Who?”
She looked left and right in confusion.
But aside from the “indecent trio” from just now, who else here could possibly be the Demon King?
At the same time, Shier, standing behind Asmodeus, seemed to realize something as well. His eyes widened in alarm, and he clapped a hand over his mouth.
“Uncle? Uncle Tayako! You are still alive?!”
“Shier?!”
The old man raised his head and looked at the doll-like boy through a blur of tears. His gaze became even more emotional than before.
“You are alive too... You are still alive too! Wonderful... the Valen Family has not died out!”
“Wait, wait, what is going on? Could someone explain this?”
Watching this large-scale family reunion scene, Lilith could only spread her hands helplessly and ask the others in bewilderment.
And so the old shopkeeper, whose name was Tayako, remained kneeling on the ground as he wiped his tears and began to explain through sobs.
“Wuwuwu... this is how it was...”
It turned out that this old man was Shier’s paternal uncle, and also the current head of the Valen Family.
After Asmodeus was sealed, the diehard factions among the various races who had followed the Demon King were collectively exiled to the seventh layer, and naturally that had included the Valen Family as well.
“For the past three hundred years, we have been researching how to break the seals and rescue His Majesty the Demon King... but our strength was insufficient. We simply could not do it.”
“Many races do not live as long as Demonkind or elves do. After several generations passed, they died in despair long ago.”
“And as for their descendants... those children who were born inside this prison, they cannot understand our loyalty at all. All they know is that they were born prisoners, so they place the blame for everything on His Majesty the Demon King...”
“Some of them have even... even come up with the terrible notion that if they kill Asmodeus, they will receive special treatment and be released!”
At that point, the old man knocked his forehead heavily against the floor, so hard that the skin split open.
“But I always believed! I always believed that His Majesty the Demon King had not abandoned us! I knew Your Majesty would return one day—Your Majesty! This old servant... this old servant has finally lived to see this day! Wuwuwu...”
With that, Tayako continued weeping bitterly, and the entire scene became deeply moving.
As for that Dark Elf girl...
She was standing off to the side now, her face full of disbelief as she stared with wide eyes at the young, handsome Asmodeus.
“H-How is that possible? Shouldn’t the legendary Demon King be as old as Grandfather? How can he be this young? Grandfather, have you gone senile?”
“Insolence!!!”
At those words, Tayako whipped his head around and roared at her in an extremely stern voice:
“Nia! What outrageous disrespect is this?! Get down on your knees before His Majesty the Demon King at once!”
“I... I...”
The Dark Elf girl named Nia trembled in fright.
Though she was still somewhat unwilling at heart, under her grandfather’s devouring glare, she could only bite her lip and kneel reluctantly with a look of profound dissatisfaction on her face.
“I-I am sorry, Your Majesty the Demon King.”
“Oh my?”
At that moment, a teasing voice sounded from overhead.
Lilith strode over to Nia, her eyes sparkling with delight. Looking down at her from above, she folded her arms across her chest and proudly thrust out her magnificent bust.
“So, who was it just now who said that I was nothing but a brainless, big-breasted succubus? And now you are kneeling? Hm?”
“Ugh!”
Nia’s face flushed red with fury.
This was humiliation beyond all reason—utter bullying! But all she could do was grit her teeth until her eyes brimmed with tears, her face full of pent-up grievance.
She could not beat Lilith in a fight. She dared not curse her out. And now she was even being mocked over her figure by this big-chested woman...
It was an unbearable disgrace!
“All right, that is enough.”
Seeing Lilith being so outrageously smug, Asmodeus had no choice but to reach out helplessly and pull her back in one motion.
Like someone disciplining a naughty kitten, he lightly pinched Lilith’s soft cheek and tugged it a little.
“You should also say less. They are our own people. Do not bully her.”
“Ow! That hurts!”
Clutching her cheek, Lilith glared fiercely at Asmodeus.
「You actually dare bully me too? Once we get out of here, I am totally doing you in. Hmph!」
That was what she ground out inwardly through clenched teeth, yet her body still unconsciously leaned a little closer toward the Demon King.
Meanwhile, Asmodeus turned to look at the old man, and his expression became gentle yet solemn.
“Rise, Tayako. You have all worked hard these past years. Since this was only a misunderstanding, let us not make a bigger matter of it. First, arrange a place for us to rest. Later, I wish to discuss this ‘Grand Duke of Greed’ with you in detail.”
“By your command, Your Majesty!”
Tayako trembled all over with excitement.
Then he hurriedly scrambled up from the floor and shouted to his granddaughter, who was still kneeling there:
“Nia! What are you still standing around for? Quickly go prepare the best guest room!”
“Mm... yes...”
Nia stood up pitifully, looking deeply aggrieved, and was just about to go prepare the room.
At that very moment, Lilith suddenly remembered something. After sniffing her own arm, she turned her head and called out:
“Wait.”
“What now? Dai—... Succubus Lady.”
「What kind of ridiculous title is Succubus Lady? Whatever.」
Lilith ignored that strange form of address and scratched her cheek a little awkwardly.
“Do you have anywhere to bathe here?”