Hell Inn: Rebirth - I Became a Chef in Hell

Chapter 145 Visiting Relatives - S01E06

As is widely known, the Pride Ring, controlled by Lucifer, is the final resting place for sinners and is the most developed region among the seven rings of Hell.

However, in your mind, this place might be more like the capital of hell.

Because it brings together the souls of people from all over Europe and America, and from all eras, the Pride Ring is filled with all sorts of architectural complexes.

Thanks to the endless stream of humans descending into hell, although it cannot be synchronized with the human world in real time, the Pride Ring is still the most developed and "inclusive" place in the entire hell.

The high technology here deeply attracts the native inhabitants of the other six rings of Hell.

And the most numerous of them are probably the little devils.

...But to be honest, you've never really liked the ecosystem depicted by the imps in the Pride Ring.

Because the smug look on the little devil's face after getting a little taste of sweetness always reminds you of the image of capitalists oppressing the peasants at the bottom of society.

Even if this place is hell to begin with.

But your almost sympathetic feelings are probably just arrogant condescension to those who are lucky enough to have enough to eat.

You're not quite sure how the Devil's Castle in the Pride Ring came to be.

But given Lucifer's personality, the likelihood of the King of Hell allocating a separate area for these little guys from the Ring of Wrath is almost zero.

So you might guess the reason this place is called Little Devil's Castle is simply because there are more little devils here.

As more and more imps settled here, it gradually became a customary imp settlement.

The reason there are so many little devils here is simply because sinners have a tacit agreement to avoid this place...

Or perhaps new imps will take their place here in place of the dead ones.

Is it that the criminals don't want to lose their cheap labor, or that those who come after them are indulging in a life of luxury and decadence, stepping on the corpses of the dead?

This is unknown.

"..."

Lost in thought at an inopportune moment, you subconsciously looked up and glanced up and down at the towering buildings in front of you.

The buildings are still the familiar red-toned buildings.

Broken, old neon lights and haphazardly placed new lights hang together in the same incongruous spot.

The steadily shining colored light arrogantly and disdainfully concealed the flickering, inferior lights.

The signs in hell, which always linger on, always deliberately extinguish a few words to imbue otherwise normal words with sexual innuendo and perverse humor.

You smelled a terrible odor of excrement mixed with the smell of blood and sulfur.

After you go to hell, your keen sense of smell will always make you associate the smells of hell with dead corpses.

Like flesh and fat settling over time, eventually dissolving into vomit—

It was a terrible smell that would make you nauseous.

Even though it's a well-ventilated street, you feel like you're surrounded by rotting flesh in a garbage dump.

Aside from you, who doesn't like going out, all the creatures in hell seem to have gotten used to this awful smell.

Even if you've been in hell for almost two years, you still have to suppress your sense of smell to the minimum to ensure you don't vomit.

...Ha, what did I do when I first went to hell and fell into Little Devil's Castle?

Do you remember feeling like you threw up, or...?

The Dragon Goddess, her gaze fixed straight ahead, coldly placed her hands in front of her, a flood of unpleasant thoughts washing over her.

This is really difficult.

Every time you return to this place that you know so well, you are always filled with many emotions.

...Perhaps it is precisely because of this emotional fluctuation that is unsuitable for hell that you are unwilling to go out with Alastor.

Rather than letting a shrewd and cunning old fox catch your sad and melancholic side, you'd rather digest it all alone.

Thinking of this, you couldn't help but roll your eyes and glance at the Western gentleman beside you.

Wendigo, looking completely at ease, was leisurely observing his surroundings.

It's a good thing that he didn't notice your emotions...

But you feel that you are not actually suitable to be with him.

After a brief moment of relief, you glanced at your green robe with a complicated expression, then at Alastor's red striped suit, and fell silent.

Wow...that's great.

Red and green together is just awful.

He didn't even want to use his omniscient perspective to see what kind of dragon girl was walking with him; his eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

You and Alastor must look incredibly ugly together, right?

The Eastern lady, who had never particularly wanted to go out with a certain sinner lord, closed her eyes in embarrassment, her long tail twitching slightly in the air behind her in dissatisfaction.

Clearly, the Dragon Girl, in terms of both her appearance and the color of her clothes, was so dignified and elegant that she didn't seem like a sinner who would come to Little Devil's Castle.

The bright and provocative crimson of the broadcasting demon made the soft-colored female demon beside him appear like a fragile lamb.

...and you will naturally be able to perceive this as well.

This makes you inexplicably feel that Alastor is taking advantage of you.

The dragon girl lowered her eyelids somewhat dejectedly.

Seeing the broadcast demon's excellent adaptability and relaxed state, you felt an almost childlike displeasure and gently kicked a pebble on the sidewalk.

Alastor doesn't seem to come to Devil's Castle very often.

However, since the ecological environment in Hell is mostly the same bad, Alastor's arrogant and disdainful gaze only lightly swept over some of the mangled corpses on the ground.

He looked somewhat bored.

You thought that when he killed that little devil who tried to steal from you ten minutes ago and uttered the words "a rude and pathetic place," he was already prepared to leave...

But you really didn't expect that he would actually follow you all the way.

That devil from the ring of arrogance.

That infamous, bloodthirsty, broadcasting demon actually wasted almost an hour accompanying you from Hell Inn to Little Devil Castle...

Although you feel happy when Alastor doesn't speak, something is definitely amiss.

Under the unusual silence of the certain demon, you secretly thought to yourself that you didn't have much to say to Alastor in the first place.

"Darling, what grudge do you hold against a nameless little stone?"

Just as you were finally ready to let your guard down and enjoy this hard-won quiet time with Wendigo, his voice suddenly rang out from beside you, completely oblivious to your feelings.

"Or perhaps you're not ready to tell your travel companions why you came to such a worthless place?"

The broadcasting demon walked alongside you without looking back.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his posture elegant and composed.

"..."

Faced with the male demon's question, you subconsciously ran your hand through your long hair hanging down your side, and remained silent for a moment before speaking.

"...I'm back to visit my family."

When you uttered the word "visiting relatives," you clearly noticed that Wendigo beside you had perked up his ears with great interest.

"Visiting relatives?"

Alastor turned his head like some kind of old, terrifying toy, and then made a completely exaggerated expression of surprise.

"The chef even has relatives in hell? I never expected that!"

The sinner lord, adopting a broadcast-like tone, seemed unusually excited.

His emotionally charged and passionate demeanor at that moment inexplicably reminded you of a news anchor who had just delivered a major news story.

"...You don't have to be so excited all of a sudden, sir."

Unlike the excited Alastor, you raised your eyebrows, your expression as indifferent as ever.

The dragon girl's expression held a hint of helplessness and amusement.

“I don’t know where you’ve gotten the idea… but the family visit I’m talking about is probably not the kind of family visit you’re imagining.”

Looking at Wendigo beside you, who occasionally casts glances your way, you exhale softly.

"Hmm... then I'm not surprised."

Seeing your attitude, the devil, who didn't seem too disappointed, shrugged playfully and easily, as if he had just made a harmless joke.

...The atmosphere between you two seems much more relaxed than before, which could be considered progress.

You are looking at Alastor.

His profile somehow evoked a strange sense of nostalgia in you.

Perhaps if you really never see Alastor again, you'll still feel a little sad.

After all, one cannot live a happy life without any noise around them.

Listening to the "clack-clack" of his high heels on the ground, like a wild deer in the forest, you inexplicably thought to yourself.

May the Porcelain Kingdom bless you, so you can finally tell Shirley that your relationship with Alastor has been repaired and is as good as new.

"Darling~? I've been waiting for you."

Perhaps seeing that you had fallen silent again, Alastor, who was walking beside you, suddenly tapped your calf casually with his microphone cane.

"..."

"...Uh, what?"

Faced with a warning from a certain demon, you blurted out instinctively.

But what greets you is Wendigo's slightly teasing and mocking gaze.

The dragon girl, who looked exceptionally gentle and beautiful today, revealed a confused expression.

This made her look exactly like one of those pathetic fools in hell who would casually make soul deals with others.

"Oh, what happened? My little lambkin?"

"I really hope that when you are reborn, your brain will have fully recovered as well,"

The devil, devoid of any sense of boundaries, narrowed his eyes, lazily and casually reaching out to pinch half of your face, pulling it outwards, his tone flippant.

"Actually, I don't like explaining things that are too simple, because I'm usually only willing to tolerate having a simpleton in my surroundings—"

"But how could I bear to let the perfect chef continue like this?"

"Oh...hahaha..."

"Darling... you really do need some passion and creativity! As for you, I'm just waiting for the sequel to a great story, aren't I?"