Chapter Text
LIFE IN HELL - Season 1: Welcome to hell!
Arc 1 - Human in hell?!
Chapter 3
They ran straight towards the Mammon mansion.
The road seemed endless on the way there, but on the way back, it passed by in the blink of an eye. Perhaps it was because Derek kept urging them on as if something were chasing them, and Paisley was so caught up in his pace that she had no time to complain.
When they finally arrived, the fashion-disaster trio stopped right in front of the front door.
Paisley leaned on her knees, gasping for breath as if her lungs were about to burst.
Derek wasn't much better. He leaned against a nearby wall, hunched over, his blond hair matted to his forehead with sweat.
Everyone was exhausted… except for the butler named Aaron, who walked quite calmly but somehow managed to keep up with them and occasionally startle Derek.
Paisley wiped away the sweat rolling down her cheek, and honestly, this was the first time she'd sweated since being dragged down here, even though the continent she was on was supposedly the hottest place in hell. Her gaze unconsciously fell to the gold bracelet on her wrist, 'It seems it's really good at blocking out the heat of this godforsaken place…'
Without it, she probably would have been roasted alive long ago.
After regaining her breath, she stood up straight and glanced at Derek, only to immediately regret it.
His shirt clung to his body, his hair was matted into clumps, sweat streamed from his temples down to his neck, and a few drops even dripped from his chin onto the ground.
'Oh god… he only ran a little bit and now he looks like he just took a shower?!' She didn't even sweat that much… is this a characteristic of boys or something??
Paisley instinctively recoiled, moving as far away from Derek as possible to avoid smelling his heavenly scent.
After panting and fanning himself to cool down, Derek finally stood up straight, only to suddenly burst into laughter the moment he glanced at her.
“HaHahAhahA! Look at you! You're becoming more and more like a beggar!”
His words immediately made Paisley's face flush with embarrassment.
“You- Look at yourself! You look like you just took a shower!" — She pointed angrily at his clothes before quickly covering her nose.
“And you're stink!”
“Hah?! What did you just say?!”
“Am I wrong?!”
Derek opened his mouth to retort, but then froze, his eyes turning behind him. Curious, Paisley glanced behind her and saw… a man engulfed in flames right in front of her door?
Paisley's eyes widened in horror as she watched the man quickly run into her house, even though he had only been outside for seconds.
But what confused her even more was Derek suddenly bursting into loud laughter, as if the horrifying scene were incredibly funny.
She turned to look at the hedgehog as if he'd suddenly grown another head, then spoke in a voice that couldn't be more bewildered
"People are burning to death and you're laughing?? Shouldn't we be helping—?"
"Helping?" — But Derek just looked at her incomprehensibly, pouting before replying.
"That old man forgot to put on sunscreen and we need to help him? What am I supposed to do now? Run over and yell, 'Hey old man, put on some sunscreen'? Oh my god, he should take responsibility for his own stupidity! I'm not helping that forgetful old—!"
“Sunscreen?”
Paisley frowned, tilting her head in confusion.
"How do you know he doesn't have any fire-resistant items?"
"Huh—? Tsk, even need to ask?"
Derek poked her forehead as if lecturing a child, causing her to push his hand away in annoyance, but that annoyance was immediately replaced by bewilderment.
"How could a poor person afford a fire-resistant item! At most, they'd only get some useless knockoffs!"
“H-huh? Is it really that expensive—? I mean… on average, how much does an item like that cost…?”
Paisley stammered, beginning to afraid of the bracelet on her wrist.
Derek paused for a moment, his hand resting on his chin thoughtfully as he tried to remember.
“Well… normally, items like this cost around 100 mamyun or more…”
What?
“Low-level ones are around 150, mid-level ones are 200 to 300, and high-level ones are from 400 to 1000 mamyun…”
What the fuck.
The blond-haired continued speaking while Paisley's face turned ashen each time she heard the price, 'Aaron said 1 mamyun equals 35 dollars, right…? Ah… haha…'
Unaware of her chaotic thoughts, Derek continued muttering
“And to convert it to some human currency… Aaron!”
He pointed at his younger brother as if giving an order. Aaron said nothing, only sighed before continuing in Derek's place.
“It’s called a dollar, sir. And to convert it to human currency, as I said before, 1 mamyun equals 35 dollars, so low-level fire-resistant items will be around 5,250 dollars, mid-level ones from 7,000 to 10,500 dollars, and high-level ones from 14,000 to 35,000 dollars”
Paisley's eyes widened, the blood draining from her face. She had never been so terrified of a bracelet; would she even have enough money to pay for it if she broke it? Certainly not. She might even be enslaved to pay for the damaged item… and that didn't sound good at all.
While Paisley's mouth hung open in horror, Aaron continued his lecture like a programmed machine.
“There are also ancient artifacts, and they are incredibly valuable. However, because they belong to the princes and king, they are usually only displayed or kept strictly, so their true value is unknown”
Aaron shrugged as he spoke
“And it’s quite clear that trading them is forbidden almost everywhere… except in Gula.”
Paisley was bewildered by this information, ‘Is Gula really… that ‘liberal’?’
As if knowing her question, Aaron simply shrugged again as he added
“Considering their laws, as long as the ‘goods’ are authorized by the dukes, anything can be passed through. So if a duke hides an item from the prince’s watchful eyes, trading it is perfectly possible.”
Paisley’s lips tightened. ‘Such a huge loophole in the law, and the prince does nothing about it? Does he really care about governing his continent…?’
Aaron let her process the information for a moment before continuing.
“Even so, if escaping Prince Beelzebub’s eyes were that easy, Gula wouldn’t have survived until now.”
“…Oh” — she murmured in response, not knowing what else to say.
But then Aaron suddenly cleared his throat, pointing to the door to remind them of the main purpose of their return.
Derek immediately remembered his bet with Wanetta and quickly turned to the door and kicked it open with his foot—of course he had to kick it.
He ran inside without waiting, leaving her to sigh in exasperation as Aaron came over and held the door open, 'at least there's one person here who knows manners...'
She stepped inside and tried to catch up with Derek, who was already eight yards ahead, followed by Aaron with his usual nonchalant demeanor.
As soon as she caught up with the hedgehog, Paisley slowed down and asked,
“You borrowed a toy hammer? What do you need it for?”
Derek glanced at her before snorting in response
“Well… I needed it to play hide and seek. The old lady and Dean came to visit that day, and I decided to play with him, so I ran over to Wanetta’s house to borrow a hammer.”
Paisley immediately frowned in confusion.
“Huh? Why do you need a hammer for hide-and-seek?”
“Because! When I find him hiding, I can hit him for losing. I was going to get a real hammer, but Aaron kept repeating ‘no killing,’ so I went to borrow one”
“…”
No matter what kind of personality this guy named Dean had… she couldn't help but feel sorry for him.
Having a brother like this, she'd rather live in an orphanage than spend her youth with him…
Derek rolled his eyes at her judgmental gaze, his hands behind his head as he continued
“Initially, I didn't want a hammer at all, but that brat kept cheating and making a fuss whenever he lost, so of course I needed a precaution!”
“Actually, the cheater here is you, not him, sir”
Then Aaron suddenly spoke up, making Derek freeze. He spun around, glaring at his brother.
“Hey! Stop lying! As if you participated in the game and knew the rules!”
“Although I didn't participate, I was a judge, sir—”
“Enough, enough! Shut up!” — Derek interrupted, pouting sarcastically.
“No one asked! Shut uppp”
“But my job is to always tell the truth, sir”
“Hah!? When was that your job?!”
“Since I came to this house”
Derek clicked his tongue in annoyance.
“Tsk, whatever! Go get this shit quickly and get to the meeting point instead of talking so much!”
“You’re the one who talks the most—”
“Bla bla bla… I didn’t hear anything!”
With that, Derek ran off, leaving Aaron still trying to reply.
Paisley could only sigh wearily at his childishness, ‘Is that really the Duke’s son? It would be more believable to say Scarlett is his…’
Aaron then shook his head
“Young master is deaf sometimes”
The remark made Paisley laugh out loud. Then, they continued chasing after the figure hurtling ahead like an arrow – though only she was actually chasing, Aaron was still walking at a steady pace.
Finally, they reached Derek’s room.
From the hallway, Paisley saw the door wide open. And the culprit was obvious.
She approached, peeking inside, only to find the room even messier than the last time she was there, and the cause, of course, was that hedgehog rummaging through things over there.
She decided to wait at the door rather than go in; what was the point of going in when the chances of getting hit on the head by those things were higher than the chances of her getting a boyfriend?
While waiting for Derek, Paisley turned to Aaron, who had also chosen to stand outside the door like her, perhaps because he was smart enough not to willingly rush into that battlefield.
Taking advantage of this moment, she decided to voice the question that had been bothering her for a while
“Hey Aaron”
“Yes?”
“I saw Derek and the security force person creating things like electricity and wind earlier” she said, tilting her head, recalling the images of the power source they had created.
“Do demons in hell also use things like magic or something?”
“Hmm… It's a little more complicated…”
“Complicated?”
Paisley tilted her head. Aaron remained silent for a moment, as if considering what to say, before finally speaking.
“In Hell, there are indeed things like magic, but it’s divided into three different categories,” he said, holding up three fingers.
“First, there’s innate ability, or simply ability. That’s a power a person has since birth, like Sir Derek for example. Second, there’s incantation, a type of magic where the user must recite the spell precisely to use it. Finally, there’s magic circles, created by complex drawings that must be drawn correctly to produce the desired result”
"So, the electricity and wind I saw earlier were their abilities?"
“Correct”
Aaron nodded slightly, putting his hands behind his back before continuing.
“Each type has its own advantages and disadvantages, but what they have in common is that they all consume something called mana”
“Mana?”
“That is the source of power that exists in all creatures of hell. Unlike the human world, here there is mana floating in the air. Only creatures born here can absorb that energy in the air and transform it into their own power, but not everyone can do that, which is why incantations and magic circles were created”
Paisley gasped, becoming intrigued by this thing called mana, 'Hell seems more interesting than I imagined… but I wonder if heaven is the same?'
After a moment of reflection, Paisley turned to look at Aaron as she asked again
“But Aaron”
“Yes?”
“Do you think… heaven has a magic system similar to hell?”
The butler narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, then shook his head, seemingly unsure of his answer
“I’m not sure about that. After all, hell and heaven haven’t had any contact with each other for millennia”
Paisley blinked at the information, ‘They’re no longer in contact?’
Aaron shrugged, quickly adding
“Most of the information about Heaven is in our records about them. But given the strained relationship between the two, I doubt that information is true.”
Then he looked directly into her eyes, his somewhat lifeless gaze instantly sending a shiver down Paisley’s spine.
“But considering the ‘affection’ Heaven has for humankind, shouldn’t you know more than I do?”
“Uh—um…”
‘I’m not religious, so how would I know…’ Paisley thought to herself, avoiding the butler’s gaze.
Then she was startled by Derek’s angry shout, finally shifting their attention back to the rascal rummaging around in the room.
They were met with the sight of Derek furiously smashing things in the room as if he were having a fit of madness. Aaron sighed wearily at his brother and spoke up, making him stop.
“Sir-”
“Hah?!”
“Can I help anything?”
“You ask as if you don’t know what I’m doing?! I’ve been looking for my hammer for ages and can’t find it anywhere!! And you’re busy talking to girl AND NOT HELPING AT ALL!”
Derek pointed at Aaron accusingly, but the butler showed no remorse, only raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not stealing your girlfriend, so don’t worry—”
“GIRLFRIEND MY ASS! Are you going to help or not?!"
“Yes yes, I will help, sir~”
After teasing his older brother, Aaron finally went inside to help Derek. Paisley could only watch the two 'crazy guys' in the room with amazement – one searching like he was in battle, the other searching half-heartedly. 'He's more interested in tea than anything else… but I haven't asked him about that cup yet… I guess I'll ask later'
After a while of searching – mostly Derek searching because his brother was just there for emotional support – the hedgehog finally yelled, 'HERE IT IS!' when he finally found the hammer outside the window. And why was it out there? Who knows.
Derek picked up the object and puffed out his chest proudly as if he'd just discovered a cure for cancer, but that pride lasted only a moment before he frantically ran outside, suddenly remembering his bet with Wanetta.
He immediately called out loudly, urging both of them to hurry to the meeting point as if they were his subordinates.
Paisley glanced at Aaron, only to receive a shrug in return, then he quickly left the room, following closely behind. She sighed wearily before deciding to follow the Mammon, 'I have no other choice anyway…'
The three of them approached the front door with Derek leading the way.
Upon arrival, he immediately sped towards the door. As usual, Derek raised his leg, preparing to deliver a 'loving' kick.
However, at that very moment, the door suddenly burst open from the other side.
The hedgehog was startled by the sudden turn of events; he couldn't react in time to retract his leg, resulting in a direct kick to someone's shin, causing them to cry out in pain.
Derek recoiled a few steps while the victim clutched his leg pitifully. Paisley looked curiously to see who it was, only to freeze when she recognized the figure – it was none other than Duke Kerwin, whom she had seen in the portrait.
The Mammon brothers were the first to recognize the other, each displaying a different expression.
One looked at his father in panic, as if caught red-handed, while the other remained loyal to his expressionless face.
Duke Kerwin finally lifted his head, glaring angrily at his son.
“You! Is this how you treat your father…?”
But his scolding stopped abruptly the moment he noticed a stranger in this house's chaotic sons group – Paisley.
He stared at Paisley in stunned silence, making both her and Derek break out in a cold sweat. ‘Oh, Lord above, please save us this time…’
The atmosphere suddenly fell into an eerie silence.
No one spoke.
No one dared to move.
And as usual, the only one remaining composed in this chaotic group was Aaron.
He stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
“Greetings, your Grace. Welcome back”
Aaron’s calm voice brought everyone back to reality.
“Forgive me for asking, but why did you go out without notice? Was there something urgent, Your Grace?”
“Derek, you…”
But the duke completely ignored him and immediately turned to look at Derek as if he were certain that Derek was behind the whole thing.
“Ahahahahahaha… h-hello old man…”
Derek forced a strained smile, but it faded when the Duke not only didn't smile back but glared at him even more intensely.
His eyes darted down the corridor as if searching for an escape route, his mouth stammering in a desperate attempt to salvage the situation.
“Uh—uh… this brat is a beggar I picked up from the street—”
“What do you mean, a beggar?!” —But his words were immediately cut short by Paisley.
Derek grimaced, gritting his teeth as he glared back at her.
“Hey! Can’t you just shut up?!”
“Then stop calling her a beggar and I’ll shut up!”
“You!—”
“PIcKeD?”
But they both fell silent when the man suddenly raised his voice, they—except Aaron, felt a chill down their spines from the tension in the air.
Derek glanced at her as if telling her to run as fast as she could while he held his old man back, and Paisley recoiled slightly as Derek tried to explain again.
“Well—”
“Derek, you…”
Both flinched at the low, deep voice of the Duke, who glared at Derek angrily, causing him to panic.
“You dare kidnap a girl and bring her home?!”
“Let me explain— huh?”
All three of them froze for three seconds, even Aaron blinked a few times at the Duke’s unexpected accusation.
Kerwin covered his face, disappointment evident in his eyes as he continued, much to his son’s surprise
“Oh my Lord, can’t you spare this old body of mine for even a day, Derek?!”
“Wha—”
“At your age, you dare kidnap someone’s daughter?!”
“The fuck did I do—”
“GO AND SEE THE OTHER KIDS!! See if there’s any thirteen-year-old who act like YOU, Derek?!”
The Duke clutched his face in anguish, tears welling up in his eyes.
Despite her confusion, Paisley couldn't help but wonder, 'What exactly has he been through…?'
Derek's lips twitched repeatedly at each of the Duke's accusations, and finally, unable to bear the injustice any longer, he shouted, causing the Duke to freeze.
"I didn't do anything! This girl came to me herself!!!!"
The Duke blinked several times at that statement, then narrowed his eyes suspiciously, clearly not believing him.
"Wut? Are you sure?"
"Absolutely! If you don't believe me, ask her!!"
The hedgehog pointed at Paisley, causing Kerwin to look at her, his eyes widening slightly as if he recognized something about her, making her flinch.
As if waiting for this moment, Aaron straightened his back and spoke, startling the two of them.
“And besides this girl ‘following’ us, she’s also—”
“BITCH- AARON! SHUT UP—!!”
“A human”
“...” — The Duke's face immediately darkened when he looked at her.
Neither of them had ever experienced such a rollercoaster of emotions – the hedgehog went from rage and fear to despair over his younger brother's betrayal, while she went from exclamation points and question marks to ellipses about her own life.
‘The Duke won’t send me to god, will he? He’ll probably just erase my memories and let me go, right…?’
After a moment of silence, he finally spoke in a serious tone that startled them – except Aaron.
“You all… come to my office immediately…”
“EEK-! Old man! I didn't do anything-!”
"You casted spell to make a human fall down here, and you say you did nothing?!!"
"What now?!"
Derek was stunned again, but the Duke paid no attention to him, turning to Aaron and saying
“Explain everything that happened in my office, Aaron. And you two, follow me.”
“Yes”
Aaron replied to the Duke, while the other two nodded hesitantly.
‘It’ll be alright, Paisley… just say I was dragged here… I can do it!’ Paisley clenched her fist, reassuring herself as the Duke walked past the kids to lead the way.
Aaron followed closely behind him, Paisley also trailing behind them and grabbing Derek by the arm and dragging him along because he acted like a child whose phone had been snatched away.
They walked in silence, not a word was spoken, making the atmosphere more awkward than ever.
Paisley walked behind, her eyes unconsciously fixed on the tails of the two demons in front of her.
Aaron's cat-like tail wagged back and forth, reminding her of the videos she had watched before being brought here… now that she thought about it, her phone had apparently been left in her room when she was transported to hell…
Then she looked at the Duke's tail – his tail was black, with a flame-like shape on top, unlike Derek's lightning-shaped tail.
Then her eyes lifted to take a closer look at the Duke's appearance.
He possessed the tall, muscular build of a true adult man. He wore a dark purple coat, black trousers, and meticulously polished leather shoes.
She also noticed that he had pointed ears and hair that was the same blonde and black as his son's. 'It seems he inherited his father's physical features… but is his personality the same?'
But then she realized something was wrong.
Where were his horns?
Paisley frowned slightly. According to what Aaron had told her, some demons were indeed born without horns, but such individuals usually had quite short lifespans. Meanwhile, Duke Kerwin looked at least forty years old.
Not to mention… She remembered very clearly that in the portrait hanging in the hallway, he still had horns.
So where had they gone?
Could something have happened?
Before curiosity killed her or her memory was erased, Paisley decided to ask the person most likely to know the answer.
“Hey, Derek”
Derek slowly lifted his head when he heard her call his name.
“Hah?”
“Why… does the Duke not have horns?”
“
"Huh—oh, he just used magic..."
"Magic?" Paisley blinked, bewildered by the answer.
"Why would he use magic to hide his horns like that?"
Derek turned to look at her as if he'd just heard the most obvious question in the world.
"Urgh, you don't even know that? Remember Aaron saying demons without tails and horns can't live long?"
"Yes"
"Well… actually, you can live normally without a tail, but the horns are incredibly important to demons. Simply because they're like a mana reservoir"
Seeing Paisley still looking confused, he continued to explain.
“The amount of mana a demon can hold in its body is limited, so horns serve to both contain and expel excess mana… like a glass being filled with water. If you keep pouring, it will eventually fill up, so you need to empty the old water to fill it with new water.”
Paisley nodded slightly in understanding, but then she suddenly thought of something.
“But isn’t there a period of time when demons stop absorbing mana? Do they just keep absorbing all that mana?”
“Yeah,” he shrugged casually.
“To survive in this environment, you need mana, and too much mana will kill you”
Then Derek suddenly crossed his arms behind his head, snorted, and continued
“Besides, demons are immortal, so having horns is also very important—”
“Wait- immortal?!”
Paisley spun around to look at Derek, who stared back at her with a puzzled expression, as if she'd just said something stupid.
“Oh? Isn't that obvious? How do you think prince Mammon is still alive? He’s older than my great-great-great-great-grandfather!”
“Oh—right…” — She blinked before turning away and awkwardly scratching her cheek.
‘After all, he’s the founder of currency in hell…’ she thought to herself before a thought suddenly popped into her head.
“So your great-grandfather is still alive?”
“Uh… no! He died of choking on food"
“…”
‘What's a nonsense death…’ She frowned before shaking her head, ‘Don’t think badly of other people’s deaths!’
Then Derek suddenly waved his hand, bringing the conversation back to the main topic.
“Anyway! Because horns are so important, demons have long ago created a spell to temporarily hide them. They look like they’ve disappeared, but they still function normally, still regulate mana for their owner, and others can’t affect them.”
“Woah, that's possible?”
Paisley pondered for a few seconds, then pointed to the horns on Derek’s head.
“But if they’re that important, why don’t you just use that spell?”
"Because I'm not stupid, that's why!" — Derek pointed to his face.
"You have to be at least fifteen to use that spell!"
“Huh?”
“Because the demon’s mana absorption and transformation system isn’t fully developed when they’re young, it only becomes complete around the age of fifteen! So if you stubbornly try to use that spell before it’s fully developed, you might end up destroying your horns instead of protecting them!”
“Oh…”
Derek suddenly puffed out his chest, holding his head high with pride.
“And because I’m a patient person, I’ll wait another two years before I can use it!”
“Or rather, you’re scared by the Duke!”
“Hey! When was I scared?!”
Then Aaron finally joined their conversation, intending to ‘tell the truth’ as he had said earlier, and she chuckled softly at the brothers’ argument.
Meanwhile, the Duke maintained a serious expression, as if he didn't care about the commotion behind him, but inwardly he was thinking something completely different, 'Oh my God… Since when did Derek become so dedicated to explaining things to a girl even though he's completely dumb?!? Could it be that he likes her?!'
Despite his expressionless face, the Duke's mind raced with all sorts of speculations, leading him to a conclusion: his son was in love.
'Suddenly… there's hope...'
After a while's walk, they finally arrived at the Duke's office door.
Kerwin quickly opened the door, and all his earlier hopeful spirits vanished when he saw the cleanliness of the room.
'You little…' The Duke's eyebrows twitched before he sighed, stepping inside and leaving the pile of papers and belongings scattered on the floor.
After sitting down, Kerwin was about to speak when Aaron subtly gestured for the other three to enter and closed the door.
So now, the three shameless rascals stood before the esteemed Duke, facing the mess they had created earlier – though mostly Derek had been the one to cause the trouble.
Then Kerwin cleared his throat and turned to look at Aaron as he said
“Now… Aaron, explain this to me.”
“What is it, Your Grace? Is it about the presence of humans here, or about why the room looks like it’s just been through a battlefield?”
“…Both”
Aaron calmly nodded.
“First, about this girl. According to her, before coming here she had just returned home after a day of school—”
“School?” — Kerwin frowned.
“I thought it was summer vacation already?”
“It’s winter in the human world now, Your Grace.”
The Duke nodded as he remembered.
“Ah, I forgot, time in the human world flows slower than in Hell.”
Then he looked at Aaron, gesturing for him to continue.
Meanwhile, Paisley was lost in his own thoughts.
Time in the human world… flows slower?
So, does that mean that if several days have passed in Hell, less than a day has gone by in the human world?
Does that mean her parents and friends haven't noticed her disappearance yet?
She frowned slightly at the thought.
Then, another thought immediately crossed her mind.
Even if several days had passed in the human world… would they even notice her disappearance?
Her friends never notice her presence, and her parents never cared about her.
So, would her disappearance change anything in their lives to make them care about her…?
Paisley immediately shook her head, dismissing those thoughts. Right now, her priority was whether she could get home! She had no intention of staying in Hell… right?
The girl sighed, shifting her attention back to the conversation in the room.
“And according to her account,” Aaron continued
“Just before she was brought here, she saw a five-pointed star appear on the floor. I suspect that’s what transported her to hell, Your Grace.”
“Hmm…”
Kerwin rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
But Aaron suddenly shrugged, adding one final sentence that shattered the room’s peace in an instant.
“As for the room, you can ask the young master about it—”
“Hey! Why are you suddenly shifting the blame onto me?!” — Derek immediately pointed directly at Aaron's face.
“Clearly you’re the one who accepted my idea—”
“I didn’t accept it, sir, I only offered a different idea. But you insisted on the Duke’s idea of searching his belongings, so I couldn’t do anything else”
“Hey, hey! Is that how you treat your brother?! You were perfectly fine with the idea back then—!”
“Wait,” — Duke Kerwin abruptly interrupted.
“Searching?”
He turned to look at Derek with a suspicious gaze, causing him to turn away.
“What else did you take from me, Derek?”
“Ah, uh— I don’t know anything~”
“You…”
Kerwin rubbed his forehead wearily, ‘I’m going to go bald because of you, Derek… you little shit’ he took a deep breath and decided to get back to the main topic before his blood pressure rose.
“Alright then… so this girl was brought down here because of a strange drawing on the floor that might be a magic circle, and she knew absolutely nothing about it?”
“Yes”
“Looks like I’ll have to report this to Prince Mammon and find a way to get her home…”
Paisley’s eyes immediately lit up.
“But—”
She froze instantly.
“B-but?”
The man clasped his hands in front of him, looked directly into her eyes, and said
“While we investigate, I must keep you here for a few days. If what transported you was indeed a magic circle, then the one behind this is definitely a demon”
His eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of confusion appearing on his face.
“Although I don’t know the purpose of this person, we must investigate this situation. So I will temporarily keep you here to assist in the investigation”
“K-keep me?” "Paisley stammered, unconsciously clutching her sweater as she asked
“But…where would I stay?”
“Hm…usually it would be jail—”
“WHAT?!”
Derek immediately shouted angrily.
“What did this beggar do to deserve being imprisoned?!”
He pointed directly at Kerwin, his posture suggesting he was ready to jump his own father if necessary.
But despite Derek’s vehement protest, the Duke’s expression remained serious and unconcerned.
But in his mind, it was the complete opposite… ‘Oh my god, now he even knows how to protect girl, what a son of mine! AHahahaha!’
Then he cleared his throat, signaling Derek to be quiet and preventing Aaron from blurting out ‘protecting a beauty, how romantic’
After seeing his son calm down, the Duke continued his interrupted sentence
“But that’s the usual procedure. Considering your young age and complete ignorance of hell, I will send a report to Prince Mammon requesting permission for you to stay at this villa during the investigation.”
“YEAH!!!”
Derek immediately raised both hands in celebration, an action that instantly earned Aaron's amused gaze.
"I know you're happy to be sleeping with your girlfriend, but since you and she are both young, please tone it down—"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!"
Both men yelled, their faces flushed with embarrassment. Aaron then received a barrage of curses and protests from them, but he maintained a poker face, as if their shouting sounded like some chill lofi music from the internet.
"I ONLY YESAH BECAUSE I WANTED TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HUMANS, NOT BECAUSE I LIKE SLEEPING WITH THIS GIRL!!!"
“You two-”
The Duke intervened, helplessly trying to speak amidst the chaos
“Stop-”
“DO YOU THINK I WANT TO SLEEP WITH HIS STINKY ARMPIT?!"
“There-”
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING STINKY?! LOOK AT YOURSELF, YOU BEGGAR!!"
“Derek-”
“HOW MANY MORE TIMES DO I HAVE TO SAY THAT I AM NOT A BEGGAR!"
“YOU BOTH, STOP IT!”
The room fell silent instantly.
Paisley and Derek both jumped in surprise and turned to look at the Duke.
Kerwin closed his eyes, took a weary breath before continuing
“As I said before, I will ask the Prince for permission for you to stay at this mansion… but on one condition”
Paisley blinked.
“A condition?”
Derek couldn't help but click his tongue at that while she tilted her head worriedly.
Kerwin nodded, ignoring his son's rambling and focusing on the girl.
“You’ll help me supervise Derek on his trip to Invidia next Monday, which means tomorrow if you wonder”
“H-huh? Invidia—”
“WAIT!” — Derek interrupted immediately, his eyes wide with surprise.
“Invidia?! What the hell, old man?! Why do I suddenly have to go to Invidia?! And it’s TOMORROW?! HOW ON HELL can I prepare for it in time?!”
Despite Derek's vehement protests, Kerwin merely shook his head in exasperation, his arms crossed as he responded in a tone that brooked no refusal.
“I know this is a bit hasty, as this trip to Invidia was supposed to be mine.”
Then he sighed softly.
“But I have an urgent matter to attend to, so I’ve decided to let you go in my place, Derek. I think this is also a good opportunity for you to gain more experience for future trips.”
“But why me?! Aaron could go instead!”
“No!”
Kerwin snapped, silencing Derek as he pursed his lips.
“Aaron isn’t the one who's going to inherit my position, it’s you, Derek! So you’d better focus on developing yourself now, or you won’t be able to keep up with everyone in your second year”
“Tsk, whatever!” — Derek clicked his tongue, clasped his hands behind his head, and turned away.
The Duke, weary of the boy's attitude, raised a hand to his face and continued
“You just need to inspect the shipment we’re importing next week, then sign some papers on my behalf, and you’ll be done. Simple, right? It’s not difficult at all—”
“But how do I sign?”
The room fell silent for a moment, then Kerwin turned to Aaron.
“Aaron, help me with this”
“I will”
He nodded stiffly.
Meanwhile, Paisley nervously fiddled with her fingers, her gaze fixed on the floor.
‘So I’ll have to go to another continent…? And it’s a continent that has a conflict with this one…’ She swallowed hard, trying to calm her pounding heart by taking a deep breath.
But she was startled when the Duke spoke again.
“Hmm… alright, now I’ll ask for a few more pieces of information to aid the investigation”
He snapped his fingers, sending a piece of paper lying haphazardly on the floor flying up, swirling a few times before gently landing on the table in front of the Duke.
The orange light surrounding it faded slightly as he picked up the paper with his other hand holding a quill pen on the table.
“Now tell me about your last known location and what you did before being brought here”
Paisley nodded slightly, finally taking her eyes off the paper.
She then began listing everything she knew, from her home address to the things she did to the last thing she saw.
The Duke quickly jotted it all down, his hand gripping the pen firmly as if he had done this many times before.
After finishing, Kerwin reread what he had written and nodded to himself.
He glanced at the three children before speaking
“Well, that’s all. You can leave now.”
“Finally!”
Derek, who had been yawning, jumped up and turned toward the door, intending to leave immediately.
But just as his hand reached for the doorknob, he froze, then turned back to look at Kerwin with a bright gaze that sent a shiver down his spine.
“Old man, can I take Wanetta with me?”
“Huh?” — He frowned, looking at his son with a puzzled expression.
“Bring a friend along? This is a mission, not a trip—”
“But YOU said I could bring a friend if we went anywhere far away!!”
“When did I say that!—”
“YOU DID! He did say it, didn’t he, Aaron?”
Derek turned to Aaron for approval, but the butler said nothing, only glancing at Derek briefly before turning back to take a sip of tea.
Taking that as a 'yes', Derek turned back to Kerwin with a beaming smile.
“See! Why shouldn’t I bring a friend along on a trip, old man?”
“If you drop the ‘old man’ part, then maybe—”
“Really, Dad? YEAH!!!” — He immediately raised both hands in celebration, causing the Duke to blink in confusion.
“Hey! I said maybe—”
“Come on, you beggar! Let’s go play basketball!!”
The hedgehog-like man dashed out despite the Duke's attempts to stop him, while she could only watch helplessly as he left, 'I no longer have the strength to care about the nickname he's given me...'
Paisley turned to look at the Duke, who simply sighed and nodded, indicating she might leave. She bowed to the Duke one last time before running out of the room.
After seeing that both of them had left, Aaron closed the door again and turned to the Duke, intending to report on the events of that morning.
Noticing that he hadn't left yet, Kerwin subtly raised an eyebrow, leaning back as he folded his arms.
“Do you have anything else to say, Aaron?”
“Yes.”
Aaron nodded.
“I want to report something else about the young master.”
“Hmm? Did he punch someone else?”
“…Sort of, but the person the young master punched here was a group of assassins”
The Duke's eyes widened slightly before narrowing. He straightened up and motioned for Aaron to continue.
Aaron quickly recounted everything, the Duke's expression growing more pensive with each piece of information, making his thoughts difficult to decipher.
After Aaron finished his report, the room fell silent as the Duke concentrated on the information he had just gathered.
‘Even Reynard’s daughter has inadvertently gotten involved in this…’ His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head slightly as he focused on the main issue.
Earlier, Aaron had offered several hypotheses about who had hired those amateur assassins.
One, they lacked sufficient funds.
And two... they lacked a legitimate identity.
His face darkened. ‘It’s not impossible… but…’
There are only two possible reasons why a demon wouldn’t have a legitimate identity.
One, they are wanted.
However, no wanted criminal could escape the king's watchful eye if they were in hell, so most were hiding in the human world and wouldn't have the time to hire small groups of assassins.
Unless it was the second reason… they weren't residents of hell.
Only those born in hell were granted identities, so those without could only be from another world, like humans.
But that doesn't make any sense, who from the outside world would know of Derek's existence? And this second possibility was already illogical.
'As far as I remember, none of the people Derek had their property destroyed were on the blacklist…' Kerwin frowned before shaking his head.
‘But, the fact that someone is targeting him is concerning… so I guess I'll still investigate about it.’
As soon as he made his decision, the Duke sighed softly and relaxed. Seeing this, Aaron subtly raised an eyebrow before speaking again.
“Your Grace”
“Hmm? Is there anything else, Aaron?”
“No, I was just wondering…” — Aaron bowed slightly as if choosing his words before continuing
“Why did you allow that girl to follow Derek to monitor him? Wouldn’t it have been enough if I had gone alone?”
“Hm… I just felt bad for her…”
Aaron tilted his head at that statement.
“Bad?”
“Because, as you know, the army usually doesn’t take those who stray from the human world seriously and treats them quite badly… and that girl is so small, I’m not sure if she can handle it.”
He shook his head, recalling previous incidents of humans falling into the human world and how they were treated.
Aaron blinked at his words, thinking for a moment before murmuring
“But I think Prince Mammon wouldn’t be like others when it comes to helping humans…”
“Well, I know that... but I’ve heard he’s been very busy lately, so I’m not sure if he’ll transfer this case to another princes… it’s just a fatherly sentiment, after all, she’s the same age as you two”
“…I see”
Aaron pondered the words, then bowed slightly, bidding the Duke farewell one last time before turning and leaving.
But just as he was about to open the door, he suddenly remembered something and turned back to look at the Duke.
“Oh yes, Miss Paisley will also be temporarily borrowing the Aignis bracelet that you bought at the last auction during her stay here, sir.”
His words immediately earned a wink from the Duke.
“Which bracelet? Did I buy it?”
“…You really should check your memory.”
Without letting him say anything more, he bowed one last time before closing the door, leaving the room once again enveloped in silence.
Kerwin leaned back and sighed wearily, sitting there lost in thought about what he had to do that day, so engrossed that he didn't realize he had spoken his thoughts aloud.
“Hmm… perhaps I should arrange a meeting with the prince and that girl…”
He crossed his arms, staring at the ceiling.
“But next Monday I have to attend a conference with the other leaders of the Mammon family… and traveling to Invidia and the capital of Avaritia will take quite a bit of time, so perhaps I should schedule the meeting with him next Sunday? Alright…”
He quickly picked up the paper he had written earlier, reaching for his pen to continue adding to the report he would send to the prince.
After a while, he put down his pen and checked the letter to make sure he hadn't missed any details before nodding slightly to himself.
Then he parted his lips and muttered a spell, causing his eyes to subtly glow.
“Dirige nos quo ire necesse est, solaris”
The letter was suddenly engulfed in a dazzling golden flame, which quickly vanished along with it.
He watched the last vestiges of light fade before sighing, his eyes scanning the cluttered room wearily.
Kerwin closed his eyes, his mind unconsciously returning to Paisley. ‘The King must have sensed her presence, he can sense every soul that sets foot on this land, so whether it’s a traitor or an outsider, he’ll know it all.’
He subtly curved his lips, a chill running down his spine as he remembered the authoritative gaze he had once seen.
Just once, but it was enough to haunt him to this day.
‘But if the prince informs me about the girl’s situation on my behalf, everything will be fine…’ He reassured himself before his face immediately darkened as he remembered the next factor, Derek.
He groaned at the headache his son could cause, then sighed, setting aside his thoughts and returning to work. Now he could only hope the upcoming trip would go smoothly.
The end of chapter 3
Next chapter: Clashes between gangs