Chapter 24 - Ballroom of Madness (3)

  [Deilos, son of Demon Lord Dantalion, Young Lord]

  [Demon Territory, De Gracia—Grand Ballroom]

  After our arrival inside the ballroom, numerous attendees followed. It took an hour before the door of the ballroom closed properly.

  “Hmm......”

  I placed my left hand on my chin.

  The person in front of me stroked his scruffy beard as he waited for my answer to his question. After thinking for a few seconds, I cleared my throat and spoke.

  “Knowing that there aren’t that many good places to trade other than back alleys since slavery is prohibited inside cities, wouldn’t the slums be a suitable spot for slave traders? Considering that even if you were to use a private space for such dealings, it’s still more prone to being eavesdropped on than just doing it in an abandoned place somewhere in the slums.”

  “Kuh! Kuhaha! Atta boy, for a youngster like yourself, you certainly do know your workarounds with those damn slave traders, don’t you? Yeah, yeah. Some even align with firms, like Euryphaessa Firm, for example. They get more when they have more leverage when a firm is backing them.”

  The man with a scruffy beard laughed as he patted my back. He spoke like he found an interesting child inside the bathroom surrounded by other nobles who wouldn’t talk about this topic.

  He approached me earlier since, according to him, he found me lonely, even with a beautiful girl beside him. The most irritating part was the interruption of the silence I was savoring and his lecture about the world of nobles despite my awkward protests. Only after my reluctant agreement with his teachings were we able to talk more casually. We discussed the greatest wines found within the Demon Territory, what jewelry was popular among women, and our current discussion, the slaves in the slums of De Gracia.

  “Euryphaessa Firm, eh...... Working with a firm isn’t too bad now that I think about it.”

  I asked curiously.

  “The Euryphaessa isn’t too lenient with disclosing private information. Even if they disclose it, it’ll dent their credibility, and worse, if it makes the Demon Lords disprove their business and dismantle it.”

  “Is that so? What if they are doing something that isn’t up to par with the Monarchs’ approval?”

  “Hell, if they’re found to be doing something heinous, then it’ll cause a big disturbance on their part. Maybe even getting imprisoned for years. Hadn’t seen a big firm like Euryphaessa to be done in like that, but I’ve seen smaller firms be demolished just because they slipped up some sort of unusual practices not permitted by Demon Lords. I can see why slave traders would want to join a big trade firm, though. If you can get a position inside, then it’s smooth sailing from there on out. Slaving isn’t an uncommon occurrence. However, finding a good slaver is hard nowadays.”

  He wiped the horn protruding from his forehead with a cloth. The horn that was curling downwards was similar to that of a bull’s. It was whitish, with the tip having a slight tint of black.

  “Be it human slavers or demon slavers, most of them don’t know the wiser about how they treat their slaves properly. Hahhh...... It disappoints me to see such incompetence in such a propitious business. But you,” the man looked at me with gleaming eyes amidst the gloomy atmosphere of the ballroom. “You got a nice head attached to your neck.”

  The eyes were essentially saying that he found something in the youngster he just found, the type of eyes that you see on someone who would recruit you for something like smuggling drugs or whatnot.

  “Aha...... It is my pleasure.”

  I answered shakily.

  “Don’t be so formal now. Better keep your head high or someone will eat you.”

  He chuckled.

  “I was wondering what kind of person would associate themselves with witches and go to an elegant ballroom with his maid as a partner. Didn’t expect that person to be one interesting youngster like you.”

  “Words spread fast, I see.”

  “That’s just how it is. Once words start to spread, they would do so quite fast. No matter how those words spread, if you slip or get a spotlight, that’s a flag for others to drag you down. It isn’t anything complicated.”

  This same situation can be attributed to the tale of Icarus, who flew the sky with wax wings and died because of ignorance. Much like an idiot who doesn’t listen thoughtfully, Icarus did not listen to the orders of his father, flying too close to the sun, making the wax wings melt, and eventually leading to his fall and death. So, while the man talking to me is a silver-tongued snake, he is still correct to some degree.

  If there were to be an idiot who always tried to bask in the sunlight, then that sunlight would eventually darken his skin due to the melanin reacting to the sun’s radiation, causing a sunburn, heatstroke, hypothermia, or more horrifically, getting skin cancer, dying slowly and painfully.

  Both situations say one thing: those who stray too close to the sun get punished or killed.

  The symbolic spotlight of death.

  While it is interesting that this slithery noble is talking some tint of truth, the way and the timing of his approach to me, it all feels like he was waiting for an opportunity to speak to me from the beginning. I’ve already deduced that this isn’t some random meeting just by the simple fact that he’s been asking me questions about the slums and the slavers. He wants something from me. The way the conversation is heading, he’ll likely be bringing it up soon.

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  “There are also words about the death of Jassen. Have you heard of that? Heard that he’s been killed quite recently. Not only him, but a couple of nobles also followed for unknown reasons.”

  “Eh......”

  Jassen......

  A representative of a Demon Lord who got mysteriously assassinated in the guest mansion alongside Yulia. Why is he asking me about him all of a sudden?

  I looked at Scylla. She kept her head low throughout my conversation with the noble. In her own words, Jassen is the representative of Demon Lord Seere, alongside other demon nobles she pointed out during our talk at the boutique. Although I might have missed it earlier, there were other nobles that Scylla highlighted, namely some coming from Demon Lords and the Euryphaessa Firm, among them was Jassen.

  “......”

  “You haven’t heard of it?”

  “Ah, no....... It’s just, may I know more about Sir Jassen, perhaps?”

  “Sir, hah. Calling that prick a Sir would make him wide-eyed about it and start berating you with insults about why Sir is such a low title for him in regards to Lord. There isn’t much about him other than someone who runs his mouth like a morning cock. I do pity Demon Lord Seere for having such a representative.”

  Someone to silence, I see.

  “Though I am still a bit new to this, forgive me for asking too much, but what about the others who also suffered the same fate?”

  “Interested in this one, are we?”

  “Well, given that I’m also a representative, it does concern me when the others are being dealt with behind the curtains.”

  The man frowned and curled his brows. He looked around the ballroom, looking at the other attendees anxiously. He walked towards the darker part of the ballroom and turned his head towards me.

  “Come here.”

  He gestured towards a corner.

  Before going further, I went back to Scylla. Without a word, she opened her eyes and nodded in response. She’s more or less saying, ‘I would be fine,’ but on the other hand, it does worry me that if I leave her here alone, some bastard might hit on her. Though I doubt that it is still a possibility, I handed her a Disintegrating Ring regardless—a ring I bought during our walks around the city.

  The ring requires a source of mana and has a component when one of the two rings is deprived of mana for a certain period of time, both of the rings disintegrate. It’s a basic alarm system for mana observation. Since a person inherently has magic flowing through their bodies, you would only need to remove the ring for the ring to work, or, in some cases, when one of the wearers dies. Currently, I have three of these rings worn, including the one connected to Scylla’s.

  “Just let me know when something happens.”

  “Yes, young lord.”

  Scylla answered plainly as I slipped the ring onto her ring finger.

  With a low breath, I fixed my shirt before walking towards where the noble with a scruffy beard went, going past other nobles who were minding their business. Once I was able to reach where the scruffy noble was, I briefly composed myself and walked towards him.

  “This place is a tiny bit more secluded from the rest. We should be fine here.”

  “As it is, though, I do wonder why you would drag me out here all of a sudden.”

  “It’s a private matter.”

  He then took out a pocket watch from his shirt and quickly returned it.

  “We’ll be fine for a quick second, though don’t say anything about this connection to me. I trust you, and that trust goes a long way.”

  He narrowed his eyes and talked in a whispering manner.

  “The rumor regarding the human nobles being associated with the rebellions is only partially true. There have also been more rumors that demon nobles are also taking part in it.”

  “What? Wouldn’t that mean......”

  “Yes, the humans might be silencing their demon counterparts in the whole scandal.”

  That much I’ve already known, though hearing it from someone else is reassuring.

  “So the humans are the ones accountable for all this?”

  “Expected to be.”

  It’s the most logical assumption based on the current situation of the assassinations. Thinking about what’s currently happening besides that, the rebellions and the carriage buyout. It all points to humans tricking demons into their petty games. But there’s something utterly wrong about this. It’s almost as if the present information makes that assumption the easiest to arrive at, inevitable even.

  This could mean that there’s a possibility that the rebellions are a hoax, but I don’t have anything to confirm that yet.

  “The rebellions are currently happening around the Northern territory and the Eastern faction, the closest to the Human Empire. While the supposed reasons for the rebellions are about the discrimination of humans within the Demon Territory, I find that shallow when they are also exploiting the current situation. Those damn bastards.”

  He snickered.

  “Shouldn’t the Demon Lords be taking care of them? I’ve heard that Demon Lord Barbatos is making a move, though I don’t know what she’s planning to do.”

  “Demon Lords are out of the question if the Demon Monarch doesn’t let them act. As of now, the rebellions are a minor inconvenience, so the Demon Lords can’t do anything yet. Though Demon Lord Paimon is acting and fixing from the sidelines, she isn’t able to deal with the rebellions directly.”

  “Such a slow way of doing things.”

  “Hah. That might be true, but considering that the current relationship between the Human Empire is strained, the Demon Monarch can’t act rashly, or the humans might abolish the peace treaty, leading to a war.”

  The scruffy noble exhaled, and some of his slicked-back gray hair slipped downwards. He fixed his hair before looking at the people clearing the center of the ballroom. There were now maids bringing in food and wine. A maid passed us. The noble took two cups from her and handed me one. He raised his cup to me and took a sip, I followed. The bitter taste of the cold wine ran down my throat.

  The noble grinned and drank his in one go.

  “Puh~ That’s one excellent brew. Oi, maid, take this.”

  He called one of the maids and placed the cup on the silver platter she was holding.

  “Seems like my time’s up. I have some other business to attend to.”

  “It was delightful talking to you.”

  I bowed lightly.

  “Don’t be so flattered,” he patted my back again. “It’s natural for an older one to educate the youngsters, after all. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name’s Urupel, a replacement for the representative of Demon Lord Seere.”

  “Ah, I’m Deilos, a representative of Demon Lord Dantalion.”

  “Demon Lord Dantalion, eh? Well, gouging my eyes here with tears about separating from my new favorite youngster won’t get me anywhere.” Urupel turned his back towards me and waved his hand. “See you around, Deilos. Be careful around human nobles for me.”

  “......”

  As Urupel’s back faded into the background of nobles with fine clothing, the chatter of the ballroom subsided to one of the knight’s announcement.

  “The arrival of Demon Lords and the Demon Monarch shall come abruptly.”

  . . .

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