Chapter 10
Fallen Angel
Part 1
This happened after the recent trouble in the ‘Gran Kokuma Empire’ with Akatsuki-kun and Dia-kun.
As planned, I was able to ask them for a favor, which was a great relief. Just in case, I had considered an alternative plan if they hadn’t accompanied me, but thanks to their kind hearts that wouldn’t refuse Ruki-kun’s request, things proceeded as I had anticipated. Now, all that’s left is to trust them and wait.
In the meantime, I decided to do what I wanted to do.
Standing in the kitchen wearing disposable vinyl gloves.
I didn’t even want to touch those ingredients through the gloves, so I used tongs to place them into a bowl filled with water.
I carefully washed the rod-shaped meat placed inside.
Washed it carefully.
Washed it carefully, meticulously.
I washed them thoroughly to ensure no blood or other bodily fluids remained, then cut them into bite-sized pieces with a knife. Separately, I also carefully washed and cut the semi-circular meat. Since the providers were different, I made sure to keep them on separate plates.
After oiling the frying pan, I sautéed the meat I had just cut, seasoning it with salt and pepper once it was sufficiently browned. It would probably be edible as is, but I had decided to add one more special touch.
I opened the lid of the vegetable soup that had been simmering gently on the edge of the stove. It was a soup made only with wilted, spoiled vegetables and a sprinkle of salt. I poured a little soup into a small dish, took a taste, and found it was exactly as I expected. I think the reproduction was quite accurate.
I plated the two types of sautéed meat onto separate plates, poured the soup over them, and gave them a light mix.
It’s a special menu for the providers. It seems the meals Ruki-kun was served every day didn’t include any meat, so this turned out a bit more luxurious.
They say food is best right after it’s cooked.
So I decided to take that specially made soup right away.
Arriving at the backstage waiting room, I called out to the two humans waiting there.
There were others I would have liked to bring, but inviting everyone would be endless, so I had specifically called one unforgivable man and one woman.
“How are you feeling? I brought you a meal before your big stage debut, so let me feed you.”
When I spoke, the two began to shake quite noticeably. Tied to chairs with ropes binding their hands, feet, and torsos, the two sat with pale faces, utterly terrified.
I held up the soup I had just made so the two could see it.
Even faced with the freshly cooked, steaming warm dish, their demeanor didn’t change in the slightest.
I placed the woman’s soup on the desk for a moment and sat down in front of the man, trying to meet his gaze, but he shook his head and refused to look at me. Despite his pale face, sweat streamed down his forehead, and his expression was twisted in fear. The man was trembling, rubbing his thighs together.
“I sealed the wounds where I cut earlier with my magic. It shouldn’t hurt there anymore.”
Hearing that, the man flinched, his shoulders shaking, and looked at me.
His face seemed to be pleading, ‘That’s not what I meant.’
“Wh-why… how can you do this…?”
This? Ah, indeed, if one were to judge good or evil, this would overwhelmingly be an evil deed.
But it seems he himself isn’t aware of the great sin he committed that warranted making me do something to this extent. Or perhaps he is averting his eyes from his own guilt.
“God originally bestowed reproductive organs to allow for evolution and prosperity through repetition. If you only use them for purposes other than their intended one, then they’re unnecessary, don’t you think?”
“Wh-what are you talking about…?”
“But after carving away your flesh, I remembered something Ruki-kun said: ‘Stealing is wrong.’ I don’t need them either, so I thought I’d return them. But just giving them back as they are would be dull, right? So I processed them to make them easier to ingest.”
Saying that, I stirred the soup, scooped up some meat with a spoon, and the man seemed to finally understand what it was. As I brought the spoon towards his mouth, he shook his head vigorously side to side, as if resisting.
“Don’t fuck with me!! I don’t want that!! Just send me back to my country already!!”
“That won’t do. Unless you properly receive it, it remains theft. But once you’ve received it, you’re free to throw it away, I suppose.”
Using control magic, I forced the man’s face forward and made him open his mouth wide. The man was trembling in fine shivers, but I paid no mind and carried the meat-filled soup to his mouth. I made him chew thoroughly, over and over, so he wouldn’t choke, so I think he got to fully savor the taste of the meat.
“St… sto…p…”
“‘I hate it, stop?’ Did you two ever listen to such words from Ruki-kun… from Number 07 and the others? Ruki-kun is a boy and was sturdy, so he didn’t suffer that particular damage, but I hear you did terrible things nightly to the female demons using this very meat, isn’t that right?”
Hearing the number 07, the man’s eyes widened in shock. Even though he had been there for quite a number of years, it seemed he didn’t remember the name ‘Ruki’. How heartless. That fact irritated me further, and my handling of the spoon going to his mouth became rougher.
The man, on the verge of tears, stammered out, ‘Forgive me, I’ve reflected.’
As if reflecting to me means anything.
“Head Guard, considering what’s being shoved into your mouth is your own, you’re much more fortunate.”
I made him swallow the last mouthful all at once.
After hearing the gulp sound of him swallowing properly, I released the control magic.
“Guhb… Gwoohh… Gwaaahhhh…!!”
The man vomited what he had just swallowed, dirtying the floor with stomach fluid and soup. However, since I made him swallow it properly, it would be difficult to vomit everything.
Well, I’ve properly returned it, so what he does after discarding it is his freedom. I’ll let him do as he pleases.
Next, I picked up the other soup and moved in front of the woman.
The woman, her face completely distorted in terror, was staring at her flattened chest, tears streaming down messily. Her rather large breasts, above average, must have been one of her prides. Even after they were cut off and the wounds sealed, she had been crying continuously.
Stirring the soup, I sat down to meet her gaze.
“I’m going to return everything to you now as well. I sautéed the meat for the soup separately, so all this meat is yours.”
The woman looked up with a start, shaking her head while crying.
She twisted her body, trying to escape, but since she was firmly tied to the chair and couldn’t use magic, there was nothing a human could do.
When I scooped some up, a characteristically shaped protrusion rested on the spoon.
As I brought it to her mouth, she let out a short ‘Hii…’ scream and, like the man, turned her head sharply to the side, trying to avoid it entering her mouth.
That level of resistance meant nothing to me. Using control magic, I turned her towards me, put the soup in her mouth, and made her chew over and over. Unable to resist, she swallowed everything one after another, tears flowing.
“By the way, how is this soup? I’m quite confident in it.”
I scooped up a bit of the soup containing only the spoiled, shredded vegetables, put it in her mouth, and temporarily released the control magic so she could speak more easily. The woman coughed violently, ‘Geho geho,’ then glared at me sharply.
“Fucking disgusting! This is the most disgusting food I’ve ever eaten! You crazy bastard can’t even cook properly!!”
With her face a mess from tears, it had no intimidation whatsoever, but she probably wanted to get a dig in at me. She hurled every insult she could think of at me, but I thought I’d let her know that those words would come back to haunt her.
“This soup was created by recreating the meals given to the imprisoned demons. You held the title of Head Chef, yet this is the only kind of food you could make?”
Hearing that, the woman, who had been spewing foul language until now, became speechless, as if her words were stuck. To be precise, the demons’ meals contained no meat at all, so with the meat oils seeping into this soup, it’s probably tastier than what the demons were given.
She shook her head, saying, ‘No more, I don’t want it,’ but she had to drink the rest of the soup as well.
“For over ten years, Ruki-kun was forced to live on meals that you find so repulsive you’re crying. What are your thoughts on that point?”
“Ah… Demons are sturdier than humans, so this much is fine, right? If a human ate this, their stomach would definitely get upset…”
“There isn’t that much difference in stomach resilience. Until I was cast down from the Celestial Realm, I was deeply involved in the creation of physical bodies. I created most of the living creatures in this world, so a meal like this shouldn’t be a problem. The same goes for you two.”
The two looked at me with eyes that seemed to say, ‘What are you talking about?’
No need for them to know.
After all, I am now a fallen angel, separated from God.
I activated control magic and made the woman swallow all the remaining soup and meat.
Partway through, she stopped resisting and became dazed, with vacant eyes as if her spirit had broken. Having finished eating, unlike the man, she didn’t vomit; she remained motionless, drool beginning to drip from her hanging open mouth.
“Um, is everything alright now? We are ready for the presentation here.”
As I was clearing the empty plates, a demon cautiously spoke to me. The female demon, dressed neatly in a tailcoat, seemed nervous because she knew my true identity.
“Ah, I’ll leave the rest to you, the host. You remember my final request, right?”
“Y-yes. To offer them at a fixed price, significantly cheaper than market value, not by auction, to all staff of the ‘Gran Kokuma Military Base’ where they were imprisoned, correct?”
“Exactly. Whether human or demon, those who are tight on money and lack means tend to have more troublesome personalities. Please make sure they are provided to demons who will… take good care of them.”
Saying that, I created as many gold coins as I could hold in one hand and pressed them into the host’s hand. She moved them on her palm as if confirming their weight, and upon确信 they were real, she grinned a wicked smile.
“Understood, Lucifer-sama.”
“Thank you. And please keep my involvement discreet, just in case.”
“Of course! Thank you for providing so many ‘products’ this time!”
The host demon bowed, then gave instructions to the other demons nearby. The ropes binding the two on the chairs were untied, replaced by heavy iron chains.
Faced with burly demons, the two probably could do nothing.
The man struggled, shaking his body in resistance, and the woman pleaded for her life, but it was all in vain.
To see them off onto the stage one last time, I faced the curtain and said,
“Now, this is the beginning of your new lives. Off you go.”
Pulled by their chains, the two were forcibly led towards the stage on the other side of the curtain. Both were screaming and crying loud enough to ruin their voices, and thrashing about, but it seems humans still can’t match demons in strength.
I opened the curtain just a little, deciding to watch their grand stage debut until the very end.
Spotlights installed above illuminated the dark stage, drums began to sound, followed by cheerful BGM. The audience seats were packed full with a great number of demons.
I hear such a crowd doesn’t usually gather.
Normally, only wealthy upper-class demons can participate in human auctions, but demons from all strata had gathered today due to the宣传 of it being a one-time special event.
“Now, everyone, thank you for your long wait. The human auction is now… well, I’d like to say that! But today, oh my, oh my! For the first time ever, just for tonight, at the provider’s request, it will not be an auction but a fixed-price sale!! For those of you who have lamented not being able to afford the usually high-priced humans, or who want an easy purchase, please, please consider making an offer!!”
The host’s announcement was met with loud applause and cheers from the audience. Among those shouting ‘Hurry up!’ were some with poor manners, seemingly drunk with drinks in hand. There were also many shabbily dressed guests who looked like they couldn’t even guarantee tomorrow’s livelihood. It was a tremendously lively uproar.
At the host’s signal, the two were dragged to the center of the stage, kicked in the legs, and forced to sit down.
“Y-you damn demons! Don’t think you’ll get away with this!”
The man shouted loudly, putting on a brave front, but that only served to hype up the demons further.
Does this scene feel familiar to you?
It’s exactly the same as what you did to the demons in that country.
The woman, perhaps understanding better than the man, or perhaps because her mind was already broken, continued screaming meaningless cries.
“In response to the provider’s earnest wish for them to be ‘cared for’ by various customers, we are offering them at a specially discounted price! The first items are here!! These two have significant physical defects, but as you can see, they are healthy bodies, so they can be used for various purposes!”
The host demon flipped a page in the binder she held and read the text on the second page. My listed desired prices for these two should have been written there. I’d given a bribe just in case, but she was probably surprised by the numbers written there. She might have been dissatisfied since I said all proceeds would go to her, but more than that, she grinned, twisting her mouth as if to say ‘How amusing,’ and chuckled.
“Ah, how extraordinary! The provider’s strong passion truly comes through!! The price for each of these two items will be 1000 Gold coins!!”
“A… thousand…?”
The man seemed stunned by the value placed on him.
This wasn’t just the usual price here; it was less than one-thousandth of the price they themselves set for demons in the human world. It’s about the price of a lunch at a café.
Frankly, to me, they are worth even less than that, but I was told that offering them for free would反而 arouse suspicion, and a price had to be set formally, so I reluctantly settled on this amount.
At the price of a single banknote, the audience erupted in laughter and frenzy.
Both the wealthy and the poor, finding it amusing, all raised their placards, shouting their desire to purchase.
“Quite popular, aren’t they?”
At my words spoken from behind the curtain, the man, who had been keeping up his brave front, finally broke, beginning to beg for his life in an unsightly manner. The host demon, likely thinking a lottery would take too long with this crowd, looked over the audience and seemed to select one for each.
One was a fat demon with a worn-out shirt, emitting a foul odor, and an unclean appearance. The other had a different build but a similar impression. Both wore vulgar smiles as they signed the purchase contracts.
I could tell at a glance they were likely weak demons, candidates for culling.
Demons who are candidates for culling and don’t even care about their appearance mostly lack mental composure. They subjugate those below them, covering their fear and despair of being culled with a sense of superiority to fill their hearts. Therefore, many are violent. They ended up in the hands of demons exactly as requested, beyond my expectations; I was impressed the host had a good eye.
Seeing the demons who had decided to purchase them, the two humans thrashed about violently, even though they were chained. They were stomped on repeatedly by staff demons with such force it seemed their legs might break, and even when lying powerless, they continued to cry and beg for forgiveness.
Those who couldn’t purchase seemed to enjoy it as amusing entertainment.
“Rest assured, everyone! While the price will be slightly higher for items without physical defects, we still have many more bargain products available. Please look forward to them!”
Growing cheers, humans being dragged away by staff while begging for their lives, tips thrown onto the stage…
Everyone, including me, is insane.
Ah, what a dreadful scene, I thought, as I closed the curtain and left the place.
Listening to the end as those humans begged for help from God and… the angels.
