The highest floor of the headquarters.
It was a place where only a small handful of executives had access to.
No one else was here in this large room. Only a bunch of coffins were spread out across the room…… At glance, the amount was over thirty.
“Keruk.”
No matter how many times I saw this, it gave me a guilty conscience(?)(TL note: 께름칙하다 not sure how to translate this). Vampires nowadays claimed that coffins were too old-school and did not use them anymore. They all properly slept on beds. Yet again, I realized that Ivar Lodbrok was an old chap who had fallen behind on the times.
It was at the time I had turned my head to read a book.
“—Mr. Torukel.”
“Oh God!”
I jumped in surprise and turned around.
A short witch was smiling back wickedly.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“If you’re here then say so!”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help but want to tease you the moment I saw you, Mr. Torukel.”
“Keruruk, I felt like my heart would drop…… but what’s with that weird way of speech?”
The witch walked in strides towards a black coffin.
If I recalled correctly her name was Beatrice. She was originally a witch that was part of the Berbere Sisters. Several decades ago, after conflicting with Ivar Lodbrok, she was captured by this side. Yesterday, they went out saying that they were going to dig up information on Lapis Lazuli. In other words, act as a spy.
“My way of speech?”
The witch sat on top of the coffin. Her voice may have been coy but her face was all smiles. That pervert. They were most definitely enjoying this situation.
“What about my speech, Mr. Torukel the Miser?”
“It’s disturbing enough that I feel like my stomach is twisting…… jeez. There’s no point in nagging since you won’t listen anyway. Whatever. Tell me about Lapis Lazuli’s movements. You’re back since you were able to gain new information, are you not?”
“Please do not be in such a rush, Mr. Torukel. Men who push women are not popular. Since you’re always like that, that’s why you haven’t had a wife for over a hundred years.”
“I am voluntarily single!”
The witch burst out in laughter.
Even her laugh was witch-like. This was making me go mad.
“I wonder. There is one important thing I found out. Demon Lord Dantalian had fallen deeper in love with the succubus than we had originally thought. He even brazenly confessed his love for the girl in the middle of Hermes’ Plaza.”
“What?”
“Should I recite what he said word by word? ‘I am a Demon Lord. This youngster is a peasant. Us two are not permitted to be wedded. However, swearing to the Goddess Aphrodite, I, Dantalian, the rank 71st Demon Lord, declare my love for this girl.'”
I creased my brows.
To say those kind of lines in a public space, that didn’t make any sense. There was a limit to how foolish a person could be. Even if Dantalian was a dullard who didn’t know shame, would he really do such a thing?
“It’s true. He even killed Andromalius claiming it was for the succubus.”
“Andromalius? Don’t tell me you’re talking about the rank 72nd Demon Lord.”
The witch made a bitter smile.
The fellow told me everything. About how Andromalius was causing a ruckus. How he had insulted the witches and assaulted Lapis Lazuli. And how Dantalian murdered Andromalius……
“Dear god.”
As I listened to the story, my mouth opened wider and wider.
The witch, as if she had understood my feelings, nodded.
“The streets of Niflheim are full of clamor. No matter where you go, people are talking about the love story between Demon Lord Dantalian and the peasant Lapis Lazuli. People are just falling at the feet of forbidden love.”
“This doesn’t make sense. Even if Andromalius was the worst Demon Lord, he was still a Demon Lord by name. It’s not possible to just kill him like that!”
“Regrettably, the public of Niflheim are favoring Dantalian.”
The witch spoke flatly.
“Andromalius spent his time passing through the casinos behaving like a vandal, you already know this. If you excluded his standing, then there was nothing good about him. Obviously, his reputation was the worst. The majority of the citizens are saying that they’re delighted and are even toasting over it.”
“……”
It wasn’t hard to imagine.
Complaints about Andromalius’ despicable antics would come regularly. Even if he’s a Demon Lord isn’t this too severe, does he not need to be restrained; this kind of talk would go over the city council from time to time. To sum it up, he was a headache for everyone.