"Trish, honey...” Mom presses a long slender finger to her cheek and tilts her head to the side. I can feel the glare of her piercing red eyes burning a hole through the top of my scalp. “Where is Pepper? Where is my little pumpkin now? Is she not with you?”

I look down at the large keg of ale in my arms as I awkwardly slosh the contents around inside the barrel in an attempt to not meet her gaze.

"Well... That's, uh... -hic-"

Mom lowers herself down to my level, her long black hair gracefully resting itself atop my barrel. If it wasn't for her towering height and the two prodigious horns protruding from her head—with that deceivingly slender figure and face of hers, you could almost mistake her for the kind of refined, noble beauty that might be popular among those in the Outside.

Her eyes meet mine.

"You two were only meant to be gone for a week. It's been months. Where's Pepper?" she asks again. "I did tell you to watch her, didn't I?"

Her eyes aren't angry, nor am I afraid of her. There was a time when she was a lot scarier, but that time has long passed. As one of her daughters, I have nothing to fear in the slightest. I know this as a fact. But... it's still hard not to be at least a little intimidated by the woman that was once known as Demon Queen Gluttony—the Wandering Calamity—only a little over twenty years ago.

"Trish..." She places a gentle hand on top of my head and strokes my hair. "Mommy won't get angry, okay? I'm just worried about your little sister."

Dammit, Pepper! That dumbass sister of mine...

It was only meant to be a quick and easy trip. I drew up a map and everything! And even if that somehow failed, all she had to do was follow the sun! I told her! But, of course, she still got lost! Worst of all, I had to secretly follow this idiot around as she got even more and more lost. Although, that part might have been more my fault...

No, no! If Pepper wasn't a dumbass this wouldn't have happened in the first place!

"It's not my fault, okay! Pepper's an idiot! A meaty, meat-headed, muscle-brained idiot!..."

"Now, now, Trish. You shouldn't say such mean things about your sister." She continues to stroke my hair. "Just tell Mommy what happened."

I tell Mom all about the ridiculous and idiotic events I was forced to bear witness to.

"... and then I found her doing that stupid thing she does. What does she call it? Her Sixfold Mind or whatever? The one she says can process complex thoughts in mere seconds. She was there for hours! Hours of holding that stupid position with that stupid grin on her face!..."

I raise the barrel to my lips and take a long swig. Mom nods along in silence as I continue my story.

"... she was just flailing underneath the tree the whole time! She wasn't attracting food! She was scaring it away! I had to lure the goblins to her myself! Without her knowing, of course. I couldn’t let her know I was following her..."

I take another swig.

"... I figured... -hic-... I figured, when she fell asleep I'd just drag her closer to town, right? So that’s what I did. But then she went and got kidnapped by goblins somehow! I couldn’t go in and get her because she’d know I was following her, so I just left and waited in town like I said I would. It's Pepper after all. There's no way goblins would be able to do anything to her..."

"I see..."

Taking the story in, Mom tilts her head and looks into my eyes again with a quizzical frown.

"Why did you need to follow Pepper without her knowing?" she asks.

“W-well, it would have been embarrassing for both of us if I just suddenly showed up out of nowhere after I said I was going to wait for her in town, right?”

"Right... But why did you two even split up in the first place? If you had just stuck together from the start, everything would have been fine, no?"

"That's, uh... -hic-"

Dammit. I was hoping she wouldn’t ask that.

"Trish..."

"I, uh... I'm actually banned from the nearest town. Bredkrum, or whatever. I’ve been buying stuff from the next town over instead. I didn’t want Pepper to find out so I rushed ahead to buy everything in advance and went back to Bredkrum to lie low while I waited for her to arrive, hoping none of the locals noticed me... Sorry... -hic-”

"All of my daughters are so silly. All of them..." She sighs softly. "You should've just told Pepper the truth and gone to the next town together. I mean, did you really think laying low would go unnoticed by the locals in the first place? You kind of stand out, you know?"

"Y-yeah... I mean, I’m a lot taller than most humans and I had to wear that stupid hat to cover my horns but—"

"You would've been the prettiest one in the whole town! Of course you'd stand out!"

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"A-ah, that's what you meant... Th-thanks, Mom..."

"And Pepper?" she finally asks, bringing the main topic back to the forefront. "She never made it to town?"

"W-well technically she did but... I, uh... -hic-" I hug the keg of ale to my chest. "I must have missed her somehow..."

After all my efforts to 'lay low', in the end, I just ended up sneaking into a tavern and getting into trouble again. It's the reason I missed Pepper when she got arrested and carted away. Mom doesn't need to know that part though...

"I see..." she sighs again. "So? Where is my little pumpkin now? Where is Pepper?"

"Surstrom Spire," I answer.

"Surstrom Spire?"

"The tower thing. You know, the big one. In the lake."

It took me a while but, asking around, I managed to find out where my stupid little sister ended up afterwards. Surstrom Spire—a weird black structure in the middle of a giant lake that spirals up into the sky. I have no idea who built it or where it came from but, unless it starts spouting hard liquor from the top, I don't care either way.

I remember the last time I was at that lake, some guy set himself on fire and tried to pick a fight with me for some reason. I don’t know what happened after that though. I was pretty blackout drunk at the time...

"Ah! That one!" Mom's face lights up as if remembering something. "That's the one that Mommy caught. Before she had you."

"Caught? Eh? Ah, sure. That one... "

I don't know what she's talking about but I go along with it anyway.

"Oh? You don't believe me?" she says, forcing a pout. "Just ask Koffy! She was there when Mommy caught it!"

"N-no, I believe you, Mom. The tower in the lake. The one you caught. Yeah... -hic- "

Again, I still have no idea what she’s talking about.

"Koffy! Honey!" she calls out in the direction of my eldest sister's room. "Do you remember when Mommy caught that thing from the sky? The black one?"

"..."

There's a light rattle of chains as I hear Koffy stirring in her room—and then silence. She doesn't respond. I didn't expect her to anyway. I think Pepper's the only one who can really deal with her...

“Hmmph! That girl has been going through her rebellious phase for the past nine hundred years, you know?" Mom huffs, pouting dramatically. "She hasn’t spoken one word since Pepper left either..."

"Y-yeah. Sorry, Mom... I'm sure Pepper will be back when she's had her fun up there. I looked into Surstrom Spire and it’s run by the current Wrath. I don’t think it’s someone she has to worry about though. If she wanted to leave that place, she could."

“Wrath... The oni king? I thought he died?”

“Mom, there’s been hundreds of Wraths since then. This new one’s a wolfman or something apparently.”

Long before I was born, the oni used to be just as feared as us demons. Right up until Mom killed their king—the first Wrath—and eventually drove them all into extinction. At least, that’s what I was able to piece together. It would have been almost a thousand years ago now...

“Sorry, honey. Mommy isn’t really up to date with these things anymore...”

“That’s okay, Mom... -hic-... I don’t think people really care as much about the Seven as they used to anyway,” I reassure her. “Oh. That reminds me. I also heard from some adventurers that Lust has been imprisoned there for the past eighteen years but—”

“Tch.” At the mention of Lust, Mom loudly clicks her tongue and scrunches up her face.

“M-Mom?”

“Ah, it’s nothing, honey,” she replies, immediately switching back to a warm smile. “Is Lust another one of the Seven? Mommy’s not up to date with these things anymore so I don’t know about any wolfman or elf woman...”

I... I never said that Lust was an elf... She clearly does remember who that is. They have fought multiple times in the past after all...

“A-anyway,” I continue. “I’m sure... -hic-... I’m sure Pepper will be fine. Wrath is no problem and the fact that Lust hasn’t escaped in the eighteen years she’s been there means she’s probably not a threat anymore either. A stupid muscle-brain like Pepper won’t have anything to worry about.”

"Hmm..."

Stretching up to her full height, Mom places a finger to her cheek once again and looks up at the ceiling in thought, tapping the side of her face with a black fingernail—the soft purple glow from the gemstones clustered across the rocky ceiling and walls of our underground home casting an imposing shadow beneath her.

"Alright, I’ve decided,” she suddenly announces. “Mommy will have to go get her."

...

I pause mid-swig of my barrel. I can feel myself sobering up from just her words alone.

"... Eh?"

"Hm? What's wrong, honey?"

"I mean... I-is that okay? It's Pepper. She'll be fine. Even if we leave her alone, she'll find her way back home eventually. Most likely by accident. There's no need for you to go, right?"

Pouting once again, Mom pokes the tip of my nose with a gentle push of her finger, forcing me to readjust the glasses slipping down my face.

"How can I not worry? Pepper's never been away from home before. She’s only twenty-four years old. My little pumpkin is still just a baby... What if she's scared and lonely all by herself? Aren't you worried about your sister?"

"I-I guess I'm a little worried, sure... But do you personally have to go? I mean, is that okay? I can go instead. With me and Pepper, it'll be an easy breakout. Olive might stand out too much but I'll take Beans with me if you're really that worried about it. I'm sure she'll agree to stay awake long enough if it's for Pepper. Though I'll probably have to carry her most of the way there..."

"No. Mommy will do it," she replies, resting a hand on my head. "Don't worry. I'll be good. I won't get into trouble, I promise."

She gives me a soft smile and pokes her tongue out playfully.

"I-if you say so..."

Demon Queen Gluttony. A rampaging calamity who went ripping, tearing, devouring, and defiling her way across the surface world. A reigning terror for over a thousand years. Entire cities were forced to evacuate on her approach. Entire armies were sent to sacrifice themselves as nothing more than bait to lure her away. A walking natural disaster that the entire world lived in constant fear of. For the first time in over twenty years—Pudding Black will walk the surface once more.

Letting out a sigh, I tilt my head back and bring the barrel to my lips. In a few long gulps, I down the entire contents and hug the empty barrel to my chest once again.

"So... -hic-... When are you leaving?" I ask.

Looking down at me with kind crimson eyes and a gentle smile on her lips, Mom leans forward and plants a kiss on one of my horns, before breaking out into a wide, reassuring grin—her sharpened, razor-edged teeth on full display.

"Tomorrow."