binnovel Chapter 58 This is just the beginning
Chapter 58 This is just the beginning
"...What? What's big?"
Billys, feeling like her brain had never been clear when she was with you, raised an eyebrow and asked you this subconsciously.
"That's the same old routine. Have you ever watched TV dramas?"
You shook your head at him, your expression unchanged: "This matter was actually quite obvious from the beginning, just as I expected."
"The mysterious demon who reserved seats for us must be of a very high status. Judging from the way things are done in Hell, the fact that they said they would treat us differently is actually just an attempt to make money off us."
"What's the connection between the two?"
Moses, who was standing next to him, asked with some suspicion.
"It's simple, the identity of that mysterious demon is enough to warrant such a move."
You shrugged, deliberately avoiding looking at Viya and Billies, who seemed a little guilty.
"Although I don't know what that strange demon saw in us, it's obvious that the manager and boss of SFDD think that one of us has a connection with that mysterious demon... I don't need to explain the wealth gap between different classes in Hell, right? It's normal for him to want to make some money off us."
"I see... So what do you mean by 'it's pretty much what you expected'?"
Moses, who seemed to finally realize something, touched his chin.
“From the moment he came to pick a fight with us, I had already imagined everything that would happen next.”
The Eastern Sinner, who quickly adopted a tone that suggested the weather was nice, chuckled as he made his astonishing statement.
"To give an analogy, what just happened is like playing a game that you've completed many times. As a player, you've already figured out the direction of all the random events in the game."
"If you want things to go the way you want, you just need to apply a little external force... or fix some useless flaws."
For example, the restaurant staff who roughly restrained IMP members, and the sinners who surrounded you, making a ruckus and nagging.
Getting rid of these things is just making an example of them for you.
The winds of the Arrogant Ring are always foul and fishy, even carrying an indescribable strange stench, but at this time of year they are always warm when they blow on you.
But after ■■■ finished speaking in a calm voice, the little devils of IMP felt a chill run down their spines for no apparent reason.
Most demons in hell don't care about other people's lives, but somehow, when the sinner from the East said these words... it seemed to carry a different kind of profound danger.
"Hmph...a game...is that it?"
Viya, standing beside you, gave you a knowing smile.
Your description is all too familiar to a teenager like her.
"Where do we begin? You're using a game as an analogy; eventually, you have to do a post-game analysis, right?"
The little witch seemed to have taken a liking to what she was telling her to say more clearly.
"We can also deduce it step by step. Under the influence of all factors, there is at least one line that is the most obvious."
Not minding explaining your thought process to Viya, you coughed and slowly began to speak in detail.
"First, they thought they could make a big profit off us, and after the Magician Cards established their key positions among us, it can be inferred from the manager's attitude that he looked down on me and the little devils."
"He believed he had found the big fish, and could simply ignore the other small fry."
You didn't reveal that Viya was the key figure because you decided to play dumb here.
"This is the first cause and effect. Because of my close relationship with the little devils, the restaurant did not take me seriously."
"How many ways are there to swindle money from big fish? This is unknown throughout the entire 'game,' and there are too many uncertainties involved."
"Because I'm not sure what this restaurant will do, I naturally don't know how to deal with it... So, what I need to do is turn the unknown into the known."
As you said this, your voice was very soft, and you narrowed your eyes, your faint smile unchanged.
“They could easily offer expensive menu items that aren’t on the menu, given that we’ve never been to this restaurant before.”
"Whether they suddenly throw a song and dance performance at us and tell us it's a show specially prepared for us, or they grab a random person and tell us it's 'personally inspired by the stars' and demand we pay for it, none of us have seen the devil."
"In that case, I might as well choose an action that will yield a simple and certain result in advance—takeout food."
"Knowing that triggering this trap would not have any 'fatal' consequences, I chose to trigger it."
"...You mean you deliberately let the manager see that you brought takeout food?"
Viya looked at you in surprise, as if she had suddenly realized something.
"What exactly do you mean by all that flowery language?"
Billies, who seemed completely bewildered by what you said, stared wide-eyed and exclaimed, "Are you crazy?! Would it kill you to explain it simply?"
He asked, annoyed.
"It's very simple! Let me put it this way, it's like [insert specific person's name] is fighting with this restaurant. [Insert person's name] doesn't know what moves the other party will make, but if [insert person's name] simply throws a punch, then the restaurant will definitely dodge it, that's a foregone conclusion!"
Viya, who seemed a little excited, explained to the impatient little devil next to her.
"Because she wasn't sure what choice the restaurant would make, [name omitted] took the initiative and 'forced' the other party to 'dodge' the action, because she could nullify that action... Can you understand that? It's just like in a movie! So cool!"
The teenager, who seemed completely captivated, put on an excited expression.
"..."
"...Hey, can you understand me?"
Feeling like he understood but also like he didn't, Billies secretly nudged Moses next to him.
"I guess... yes..."
Moses stammered a reply, sounding a bit confused.
"So... ma'am, you mean you guided the other person to do this through your own actions? You actually anticipated that the other person was deliberately trying to cause trouble?"
The little devil asked this question with some uncertainty.
"I've already brought my own food. With their intelligence, they'll definitely take the bait as soon as it's offered to them."
You flicked your tail behind you, your tone indifferent.
"That sinner manager is arrogant and stupid. After seeing my bland reply, he will definitely seek revenge later... But even if he doesn't seek revenge, I have other ways to make him 'make me angry'."
"It's not in my nature to kick over the table without knowing the facts, but things are a completely different story when there's a reason."
"Isn't it quite interesting to watch an idiot and his self-important boss act so arrogantly at first and then obsequiously?"
You bend down and look at the little devils in front of you with a strangely amused expression.
"Oh...wow! Wow!! Wait a minute! You don't mean that you orchestrated all of this from beginning to end, do you!?"
Just then, Millie, who seemed to have finally discovered the blind spot, pointed at you in an incredulous tone, and then pointed to the messy SFDD behind her.
After saying this, the short, black-haired female demon and her companion immediately showed blank expressions that could only be described as "?".
"That's roughly the feeling, but all the actors in this scene that she directed and starred in were very cooperative... so does that count me?"
"Now I understand why you seemed so at ease from beginning to end," Viya said with a slightly helpless smile as she looked at you.
"Of course, you're the most worry-free and biggest star in this farce, darling."
The Eastern sinner, who had no sense of having done anything wrong, softened his smile considerably.
"Once the idea of 'I want to make this restaurant pay the price and then send us away like a Buddha' came to my mind, everything has been going according to my plan."
"However, their personalities are too stereotypical, and apart from the very end, they are mostly uninteresting."
At this point, there was even a hint of disappointment in ■■■'s tone.
—However, that performance show that released a large amount of prohibited smoke could still be considered an unexpected surprise.
You think so.
"You mean you know you'll get into trouble with the 'criminal manager' if you bring your own food out?" Billies suddenly asked.
"Correct."
Did you know you would be targeted in that illegal smoke show?
"Yes, although it was unexpected that you pulled me out, I am still very grateful."
"Afterwards, you threw a tantrum in the restaurant, and it was within your expectations that the owner would come to resolve the issue?"
"Of course, but since their boss isn't coming out, it would be an interesting ending if I just razed SFDD to the ground."
"..."
"...Then why the hell didn't you flatten it in the end?! Damn it! Was it something you expected that I'd die of anger here?!"
Faced with your bland and even infuriating speech from beginning to end, Billy could no longer hold back and jumped on you, grabbing your collar and yelling at you angrily.
It seems they don't really care that your wonderfully self-directed and self-acted little devil is still endlessly harping on the matter of you letting the owner and manager of SFDD restaurant go.
You don't understand why the other person is so persistent... but you can definitely feel that he really wants those two demons to die.
"...But I'm also curious why you suddenly let them go, and even paid them in the end... This sudden 'reconciliation' plot can be considered a bad ending in some ways, right?"
Viya, who seemed to have almost figured it out thanks to Billy's almost materialized obsession, asked you this question with a hint of schadenfreude.
"Ah, that's probably because I want to make a sequel."
Hearing her say that, you, who seemed completely unperturbed, winked at her in a good-natured manner, your expression even appearing innocent.
"Death is naturally the easiest thing to do, but because I didn't want those demons to die so easily, so—"
"I didn't directly push down SFDD because I was afraid of crushing the key NPCs as well."
"Friends, what has just happened is only the beginning."
"Don't you all like this grand start?"
As the Eastern Sinner spoke in a lighthearted tone, he moved a step to the side to give the little devil couple, who seemed to still be processing the huge amount of information they had just received, as well as Billies and Viya, who were still angry, more of a view.
It was still the same arrogant, red-glowing group of buildings and a sparse number of pedestrians.
An abandoned restaurant without even a name should stand in stark contrast to the bustling "So delicious it's unbearable" restaurant.
Thanks to you, the SFDD now littered with corpses is no different from that pitiful, run-down restaurant across the street.
However, unexpectedly, at a time when SFDD is on edge and suspicious of everything,
The cleaning worker who had caught your eye twice actually picked up his cleaning tools and walked into the seemingly abandoned restaurant across the street.