Welcome to Hell!

Chapter 212: Liselotte’s Proposal

“…Hey, what’s going on?”

“Finally back, huh?”

“Oh? Welcome back, both of you.”

After reconciling with Chris, I returned to the campsite with her. I was planning to apologize for going out of control, but I was surprised. The reason was… Lieselotte was sitting with Lappy and Asumi on either side of her.

Unlike me and others like Tigar, Asumi was a former Republic soldier who was turned into a demon through the Karelvo method. So, unlike Tigar and the others, she couldn’t change back to a human form and remained in her demon appearance. Even though my actions had already exposed us as demons, weren’t they acting too familiar with each other?

“Hey, Boss. I thought you’d gone completely mad, then you just got up and ran off… You big idiot!”

“Ugh…!”

As I stood there, stunned by the unbelievable sight, an angry Tigar approached me while carrying his great sword over his shoulder. Then he swung his sword up and struck my head with the flat side of his blade.

Tigar’s strength was great, but with my exoskeleton that hardened my outer skin, I could easily block a mere blow like this. However, I willingly accepted this strike. This was my punishment for behaving unworthily as the leader of this group.

The merciless blow sent a tremendous shock through my head. My vision blurred greatly, and I couldn’t stand, falling to one knee. As a demon with high defensive capabilities, it had been a long time since I had experienced such pain.

“Gueee!? Wh-why are ‘you’ angry at me!?”

“…”

As I stood up, rubbing my head where a dull pain lingered, I noticed that Chris, who had been beside me just moments ago, had moved behind Tigar. Even more alarming, she was strangling him with her left arm while holding a sharp needle-like object from her prosthetic right arm against his neck.

Chris’s face was completely expressionless during this. Although her furious expression when I touched the bracelet was terrifying, her emotionless face while wielding a weapon was even more so. If I had seen that expression while I was rampaging, it might have stopped me.

Jokes aside, on closer inspection, that needle-like object seemed to be the stinger I had given her when I shed my skin. It had a shine that the original didn’t; perhaps it was reinforced with some chemical or paint. More importantly, I needed to stop her.

“Calm down, Chris. I deserved the punishment. Tigar did nothing wrong.”

“…Alright.”

Once I soothed her, Chris retracted the stinger and released her arm from around Tigar’s neck. The released Tigar was gurgling and choking, probably from the firm pressure on his throat. I could see the frustration in his eyes.

It was understandable. Tigar, who had every right to be angry, had almost had his throat slit unjustly. I communicated my apologies to Tigar through telepathy and was met with a demand to explain the situation. It was a reasonable request, and I agreed.

“So, why is Asumi here?”

“I asked her to come.”

It was Marcellus who answered my question. Though, from my perspective, I wanted to ask why he was there as well. It was likely—almost certainly—due to my own rampage.

“I heard you were in a fury. I came out from the back campsite to help get things under control.”

“So, it was my fault after all. I’m sorry for causing trouble.”

“Haha! Don’t worry about it. In fact, it feels good to be active again after such a long time.”

Marcellus laughed and forgave me as I apologized. When we fled from the empire, Marcellus lost both of his legs from the knees down. Although Sharl tried her best, she couldn’t regenerate Marcellus’s legs, as he was not a demon like us.

Although the loss of his legs has made it impossible for him to fight on the front lines, Marcellus was still our comrade. There was never an option to abandon him, especially since we had originally wanted him to come with us.

Moreover, he was valuable to us for his knowledge of the outside world, much like Decius and Mika, who had also received proper education. He now managed the property we had seized from bandits and served as our teacher. Incidentally, he was the father of the child in Asumi’s swelling belly.

“How much did you tell the two of them?”

“I told them everything without hiding a thing. They said, ‘We are not so fallen as to scorn our benefactor’. Really, that young lady is a good girl.”

I agreed with Marcellus, who seemed impressed. Objectively, we were a group of runaway slaves, deserters, and demons, and some of us were even former soldiers of enemy countries. Only a complete fool or someone of good character could get along and chat with Asumi after knowing this.

Chris seemed proud, perhaps pleased to hear Marcellus and my assessment. It seemed natural for her to be happy hearing her benefactor and master being praised.

“Are you done talking?”

“Big brother, are you alright?”

“

…Worry about me more than the boss.”

After Tigar had settled the commotion he caused, Lieselotte approached us to speak. Rapi was by her side, showing concern for me. Tigar was complaining about that, but I remained silent, sensing that anything I said might only make things worse.

“I’m sorry for the trouble I caused.”

“I apologize as well, young lady.”

Both Chris and I were quick to express our apologies to Lieselotte. In my rage, I had almost forgotten that I had unintentionally overwhelmed her with killing intent, causing her to faint. Chris, too, had abandoned her duty as a guard to chase after me. Our reasons for apologizing were more than sufficient.

Lieselotte, seeing us bowing our heads together, instructed us to raise our heads, assuring us that she was not angry. While appreciating her generosity, I lifted my head, only to find Lieselotte staring intently at me. There was only one reason for her gaze: she had seen my true face.

In my rage, I had inadvertently dispelled the illusion cast by Rinne with my own spiritual power. As a result, my disguised compound eyes and the lower jaw wrapped in an exoskeleton were now exposed. It would be no surprise if she found this frightening.

“I had heard about it, but you are a demon as well, Sir Antares. What kind of demon are you?”

Contrary to my expectations, Lieselotte showed no fear. Instead, driven by curiosity, she asked me what kind of demon I was. I wasn’t sure whether to admire her bravery or question her lack of caution.

However, this provided a good opportunity to explain who I was and why I had become so enraged. I took a seat on a stump in front of Lieselotte and began to share my story.

◆◇◆◇◆◇

“I see. I understand now what happened between Chris and Sir Antares.”

“No, no… huh, is this for real?”

Why was I angry? Why has Chris chased after me? And why did Chris, who was almost killed by me, attack Tigar? As I recounted all of that, the day completely gave way to night, and darkness descended upon our camp.

The cooking team, led by Mika, finished preparing the meal and brought it over to us. I ended up finishing my story while we ate. While I didn’t need much food, Chris was starving, and her stomach was growling with hunger. We couldn’t delay the meal any longer.

“Miss Hilda, is something the matter?”

“What’s the matter, you ask? We’re sitting next to that giant scorpion? How can you expect me to believe something so absurd so easily!”

“If I recall correctly… you killed two holy knights in front of me. One was killed with a thrown spear that split his head and helmet, and the other had his neck crushed under your leg.”

I voiced these memories while recalling my encounter with Lieselotte and Hilda. Such details should be unknown to those not present at the scene, so they must be sufficient to convince her.

As expected, Hilda was left speechless by my words. She seemed to have no choice but to accept that I was the scorpion she had encountered before. After all, it’s not every day that someone you never expected to see again turns up as a demon. Her astonishment was understandable.

“Thank you for your help at that time. It seems I owe my life to Sir Antares twice now.”

“It’s a strange twist of fate. So, what will you do now?”

“I have a proposal to discuss. May I speak?”

I had thought Lieselotte would talk about setting a departure date, but she mentioned having a proposal. What could she be thinking? I was honestly very curious. Let’s hear her proposal.

“A proposal, you say?”

“I would like to request that all of you escort us to my homeland. Would you accept?”

“…What?”

“Young lady!?”

An escort request? To demons? Even we, as demons ourselves, were perplexed, so it was only natural for Hilda to let out an absurd cry of surprise. Or was it that she hadn’t even been consulted about it?

Chris who was sitting next to me seemed surprised too, as I could tell from my compound eyes. However, there seemed to be a slight smile on her lips. Perhaps she found something about the situation pleasing?

“Of course, we will pay a fair amount for the escort service. I don’t have sufficient funds with me right now, so I will pay you in one lump sum once I return to my homeland. Is that acceptable?”

“No, it’s not about the money… Are you sure about this? We are undoubtedly wanted by the empire, and before that, we’re monsters transformed into weapons.”

None of us had willingly become demons. Yet, it was an undeniable fact that demons were manufactured as weapons. No one could refute that reality.

And if one were to judge us from a general perspective, we would be “dangerous weapons that have escaped from the country that owned us and are now hiding in a foreign forest”. I was reluctant to say so, but realistically, that was our current state. To consider such beings as escorts seemed far from sane. Hilda’s reaction was, in fact, the normal one.

“I don’t think so. After all, you all have been kind to us, haven’t you?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Moreover, this wouldn’t be a bad deal for you either. You plan to head south of the mountain range, right? If you accept my request and have that status, it will be possible for you to pass through the road confidently, even up to my home country.”

Indeed, there was some merit in what Lieselotte said. Even though we planned to head south of the Shumie Mountain Range, traveling overland would inevitably lead us into trouble at some point. In the worst case, we might be relentlessly pursued day and night as wanted fugitives.

In this regard, obtaining a certain status as Chris’s escort could help us avoid some troubles. This was certainly an attractive proposition, but… I couldn’t decide on my own. It would be necessary for me to discuss this with my comrades.

“I would like you to wait until tomorrow for an answer. I need to discuss this with the others.”

“Understood. I’ll be looking forward to a favorable reply. Good night then.”

Saying this, Lieselotte walked back to her tent with Hilda. Chris hastily followed after them. The rest of us who were left behind ended up discussing Liselotte’s proposal all night.