Chapter 1
It’s been a good few weeks since we defeated the Astaroth House. Seir kept his word and stripped the brothers of all their rank and wealth. It seems my suspicions were right. The territory that the Astaroth House managed to obtain in such a small space of time, was in fact a collections of smaller Households that were either tricked or blackmailed into relinquishing their territory and sovereignty, in exchange for the safety of their ensnared family members, who more often than not, were young women/girls.
Seir met with the legitimate rulers of those territories and said that he would return their territory to them after the summit had concluded. He also allowed the kidnapped members of said families to return to their respective households, if they so desired. Not all hostages were of noble birth though and some didn’t even have homes to go back to.
Seir granted political asylum to all those that had no home to return to, or were just unwilling to return. He had Alice liaise with officials of his personal territory in Hell and provide homes, work, educational opportunities and medical care for all ex-members of the Astaroth House. He even imposed on the geezer and spread the scope of this protection and entitlement to his territory, for anyone that just wanted to get as far away as possible and start a new life.
The Astaroth Brothers are still in hospital receiving round the clock medical treatment. Someone from HPD also looked into the situation with the ogre brothers and those two idiots were finally arrested. They admitted to everything and linked it all back to the baldy and his brother, I have no idea if this was Seir’s or Sitri’s doing though. The investigation hasn’t amounted to much but they are delving into how this links to the methods used to gain the accumulated territory of the Astaroth House, that now belongs to Seir, so it’s promising.
Shiro gained a ton of fans and publicity following her match and has pretty much become an idol now. It seems there are fan clubs and everything. DTV has attempted to storm the villa multiple times to get an interview with her but Alice has turned them away every time. Two twin sisters that were liberated from the Astaroth House even begged Shiro to take them as her servants, it seems she really made an impression on them.
Shiro initially refused but Seir said that he didn’t mind and they both insisted that they would earn their keep and had nowhere to return to. After a few tear filled upturned looks, Shiro gave in and we welcomed Eliza and Beth into our immediate Household. They look really cute in their maid outfits and Alice likes to spoil them when she thinks nobody is looking.
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As for me, well…
“Just how much longer do I need to walk old man!”
“Wahahahahahah, it’s just a little further up foolish boy.”
“You’ve been saying that for hours!”
“Wahahahahahaha, do you want that familiar or not? We need to go deep into the Earl’s territory if we want a good familiar.”
“Damn it old man, all I want is one that can heal me, a pixie or faerie will do me nicely.”
“Wahahahahahahahaha, not likely foolish boy. With me as your main familiar, anything that loses in rank to a “King” will run in fear, well except our little Shiko.”
“W-what the hell old man! Is that why I haven’t spotted even a single familiar, despite being pretty deep into the geezer’s mountainous wildlands?”
“Wahahahahahaha...Just a little further up foolish boy.”
“...”
I’ve been roaming the wildlands of the geezer’s territory in hell for days in search of a familiar that can provide support like options for me. I’ve crossed rivers, climbed mountains and trekked through woodland and marshy terrain and haven’t spotted even a single familiar.
There are apparently only certain parts of hell where you can obtain a familiar, luckily the geezer’s territory falls in such a place. Familiars that live in Hell tend to have a hierarchy and ruling system of their own. Although the ultimate King of everything in Hell is Satan, Hell’s familiars have their own “Monarchs” and apparently everything is regulated by a treaty that was agreed thousands of years ago.
The old dragon claimed that he sensed the perfect addition to my repertoire somewhere close, but I’ve been walking for hours now and haven’t spotted anything. Just when I was about to give up for the day and make camp for the evening, I spotted a pure white bird flying toward a nest in a huge tree.
“H-hey! That’s a Caladrius bird! That will do.”
I ran in the same direction as it was flying, when I was about to reach the foot of the huge tree, my feet gave way, no, it would be more accurate to say that the ground gave way. A hole big enough for me to fall through appeared beneath me, for seconds I just floated in mid air, as if waiting for gravity to work it’s magic and sure enough...
“W-what! The fu…”
“Wahahahahahahahahaha, you found it foolish boy.”
I began falling through the hole, it felt like it was never going to end, I even had enough time to sit cross legged, arms folded and contemplate my current situation. Time passed and I finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel, moments before becoming roadkill, I fired demonic energy below me and managed to cushion my fall.
When my eyes finally readjusted to the natural light, I was met with a barren, lifeless, rocky wasteland with an eternal blood red sun hanging just barely off the horizon.
“W-where the hell did you bring me to old man?”
“Wahahahahahaha, rejoice foolish boy, for you have happened upon a goldmine.”
“Huh? Looks like the Outlands from Lion King and I should know, Shiro has made me sit through that movie over 100 times….”
“Wahahahahahaha, I have no idea what that means...Anyways, welcome foolish boy, welcome to, Lucifer’s Burial Grounds.”
“...Say what now?”