Hell Inn: Rebirth - I Became a Chef in Hell

Chapter 20: The hangover candy is orange flavored.

“Honey, you know you don’t have to explain every detail of the hotel to Sir Pantheon.”

"Sorry! I'm just really excited that we finally have our first real customer!"

"Uh... then what about my fucking...■■■?"

……

Just as you start to drift off, Shirley, Vicky, and Angel suddenly start chatting, and you never expect to be drawn into the conversation like that.

"what?"

You paused for a moment, and before you knew it, a single word came out of your mouth.

"You said ■■■? No...no no no...uh..."

When your identity was mentioned, Shirley clearly panicked for a moment.

The blonde witch, who clearly had something on her mind, stammered for a long time without being able to utter a word.

"I mean... she... she's the best cook in the inn, isn't she?"

After struggling to utter those words for a long time, Shirley quickly looked at you with pleading eyes.

"Oh, since [name] is the best chef in all of hell, if [name] is the most likely to go to heaven, would you stop her?"

Angel rolled her eyes and stood between you and her.

The Spider Sinner's lower two arms were crossed, while its upper two arms were outstretched and suspended in the air, giving it a resolute stance of questioning the female demon before it.

"...What? No! Of course not! How could you think that?"

After hearing Angel say that, Shirley's eyes widened in surprise.

You can see a hint of hurt and an emotion in her eyes that you can't quite decipher.

“You are all important members of the hotel family, but…”

The little princess of hell seemed a bit awkward, wringing her hands as if she didn't know what to say for the time being.

“What Shirley means is that, while ■■■ is indeed a guest of the second hotel, she is also the most important chef here and our family… Clearly, her second identity is now more important and known to us than the title of guest.”

Seeing her lover's discomfiture, Vicky, knowing what Shirley really wanted to say, interjected with an unhappy expression.

"■■■ is our best chef, but if one day ■■■ goes to heaven, we will definitely throw a grand farewell banquet."

"Uh...yes! That's exactly what I meant!"

With a somewhat forced expression, Shirley poked her golden head out and gave a thumbs-up.

"As for you, you constantly embarrass us, sexually harass all the hotel staff, and have never actually tried to improve... Do you think these crimes are enough? If not, I can go on to detail them further."

Vicky, who seemed quite bothered by Angel's previous embarrassment on Channel 666, listed Angel's current problems one by one.

The white-haired female demon, who exudes the aura of a headmistress whenever the hotel's criminal acts are mentioned... now looks a bit like a warrior guarding the little princess of hell.

"Uh... what she meant was, it's really great that there are people who are actually interested in 'going to heaven' these days!"

Sensing the awkward atmosphere, at least at this sensitive moment, Shirley clumsily changed the subject and then ran off as if fleeing towards Sir Pancius, who was looking around erratically.

She seemed to be planning to take him around Hell Inn a bit more.

Vicky ignored Angel and turned to follow Shirley toward the hotel lobby staircase.

Standing there without saying a word from beginning to end, knowing that speaking at a time like this would only complicate things: "..."

Angel's silence makes you feel a little sorry for him.

It would be impossible for Vicky's words not to have hurt Angel.

...But what Vicky said was actually quite reasonable.

It's true that she disliked the things Angel had done that embarrassed everyone, especially since the one who was most hurt on 666 News Channel was Shirley, who was also Vicky's lover.

Regarding this matter, Vicky's decision not to directly confront Angel already demonstrates a considerable degree of privilege and tolerance towards the hotel guests.

But Angel wasn't wrong either. He was hurt by being ignored, but he cared about everything at the hotel, yet was ultimately powerless to change anything.

The wounds of sinners always heal quickly, but you, who can see souls directly, know that Angel sometimes returns from his workplace with a body covered in unnaturally formed wounds... or a listless spirit.

You wouldn't rashly rush to knock on his door to ask how he is, nor would you deliberately pry into his background.

As far as your job is concerned, all you will do is cook him a hot late-night snack and serve it to him, and then wash the plate that he has carefully placed in the sink and eaten clean the next day.

Angel is not a bad kid.

The Spider Sinner's soul color is the same as Hesk and Nifedi's, proving that he sold his soul long ago.

As for who it was sold to, you know the answer in your heart.

Hell is full of sinners who need comfort, and also full of sinners who sell their souls for momentary pleasure, only to regret it later.

In this respect, hell is not much different from the human world.

"The disgusting sinner from the East is coming."

Without turning your head, you silently wrapped your tail around Angel's slender waist and pulled Angel, who had been silent since the beginning, to your side.

"……What are you doing?"

The spider sinner, who clearly understood you were trying to comfort him, asked you this in a disgruntled voice.

But you've already made fun of yourself, so for a moment he didn't know what words to use to stab you.

"Giving candy to idiots."

Before Angel, who was known for his talkative nature, could even speak, you slipped a handful of orange-flavored hangover candies into his hand, then quickly vanished like a black tide.

The spider sinner, who didn't even have time to refuse, stared blankly at the stern-faced Eastern sinner who quickly disappeared after doing so, as if he had run away.

There were no nauseating hugs, no heartfelt conversations, no well-informed advice, and no complaints about his style of doing things.

For a moment, Angel even felt as if he had returned to that human world that was no different from hell, except that he suddenly encountered a normal person who seemed to have some kind of kindness.

The tall male demon stared blankly at the candy in his hand.

Unlike most products from hell, it was a hard candy wrapped in a tacky candy wrapper, the uninteresting color of which was printed with a pattern that looked like the characters for "hometown".

Orange-flavored hard shell, with a strong-flavored filling.

When she has nothing to do, she likes to hoard snacks from her hometown in the basket she keeps in the hotel lobby. Without exception, they are all "contraband" that she has obtained from the human world.

Put the ordinary snacks in one basket, and the special snacks of a certain eccentric gentleman in another basket.

At the time, this orange-flavored hangover candy looked the most normal among all the snacks, so Angel just picked one up casually.

He realized he didn't actually like the flavor that much; he preferred strawberry.

He didn't really like it that much, but every time he got drunk or was insulted by his boss, whom he at least hated now, he would unwrap the candy and eat one.

The strong yet refreshing scent would momentarily clear his drug-induced mental fog.

Although it was only for a moment, it was enough for him.

It wasn't until later, when he casually mentioned it to ■■■, that he learned it was actually hangover candy.

He remembered saying it was absurd that the hangover candy was in his hands, and he also remembered that he hadn't seen ■■■.

But now it seems he's only just realized...

The sinner from the East actually remembered that two days ago he said that only newborn primordial little devils would like this thing.

I also remember that Spider Sinner had a habit of taking a few snacks from his snack basket before going to work every day.

Sometimes, a small act of kindness can be more effective at breaking down defenses than a huge act of comfort.

■■■ Always clumsy, unable to comfort others, and unsure how to face the dejected souls of those fallen from hell.

She is afraid of intimacy, easily influenced, can't stand seeing others suffer or feel embarrassed, and likes to hold an umbrella for people who are getting wet in the rain.

……

Someone like her shouldn't even be in hell.

So, upon seeing his suffering, the sinner from the East, who didn't even know how to comfort him, was like someone who was afraid of cats but insisted on leaving an umbrella for a stray cat—

After leaving behind her goodwill, she fled in a disheveled state.

……

This is a hell where all souls are utterly wicked, taking pride in harming others, and where every soul is utterly despicable.

The one who was willing to reward a porn star with simple human flowers; who was willing to wear that ridiculous hairstyle that he deliberately decorated; who always prepared a handful of orange-flavored hangover candies for himself, remembered every moment of every demon in this inn.

...Really...

'A waste of time, utterly stupid'

These words weren't his own, but they were words he should say while he was in hell... or rather, words that person wanted him to say.

But after those words popped into his head, and after making that assessment of ■■■, Angel felt a sharp pain in his heart and immediately began to feel angry and powerless.

Spider Sinner lowered his head somewhat dejectedly, then peeled open an orange-flavored hangover candy that the Eastern Sinner had stuffed into his hand and put it in his mouth.

This time, however, the orange candy was surprisingly sweet to the point of being bitter.