Ch.172Parents

The Demon Lord of ‘Gluttony’, the Demonic Ruler of ‘Gluttony’, Lord of Flies, Queen of Maggots, Bull General leading 66 demonic legions, Parent of All Spiders.

The demon lord, the great devil, often described with all manner of blasphemous and hideous epithets. Beelzebub, the evil ruler who presides over the domain of ‘Gluttony’ among the Seven Deadly Sins, was watching with interest as his firstborn son overcame trials with the help of an indigenous deity.

Of course, one might question how he(she) could appear so composed when his plans were failing, but upon reflection, from Beelzebub’s perspective, the outcome of this matter was largely inconsequential.

This was because, for the demon Beelzebub, this affair was merely something cobbled together to recycle leftover resources… not even worthy of being called a plot.

By chance, Beelzebub had witnessed a moderately powerful follower on earth pleading for help when faced with death. Upon seeing this, Beelzebub decided to make use of this mortal who had contracted with one of his countless maggots.

Unlike ‘Lust,’ who lavishes deep interest and affection on each of her contractors and followers, this was typical behavior for Beelzebub, who had little interest in followers or contractors.

Nevertheless, once Beelzebub made up his mind, he inwardly resolved to give his all within the available resources.

Regardless of whether this plan succeeded or failed—something he had little attachment to—giving his all once committed was just one of Beelzebub’s many facets and appearances.

Since ‘Gluttony’ fundamentally underlies all his principles of action, while he might easily dismiss unimportant failures, once he set his mind to something, he would greedily gather everything he could devour within those boundaries.

Therefore, what he devised was a plot related to ‘Loss.’

Though he didn’t know everything—hindered by the indigenous deities of that world and the barriers of the world itself—Beelzebub had gathered enough information to notice that his son had never experienced ‘Loss.’

Not the kind of loss in the public sphere, like ‘failing to save the people he should protect and lead as a ruler,’ but rather the absence of personal loss, such as losing someone close to him.

Normally, even a ‘demon’ whose realm and perspective are so different that they cannot understand the thinking of sentient beings, including humans—no.

Because they are evil servants originating from the malice of sentient beings, demons are actually quicker to understand from this perspective.

While their capacity for empathy or sociability might be infinitely close to zero, nothing surpasses demons in exploiting others’ weaknesses, exposing vulnerabilities, and leading sentient beings toward evil.

Thus, through this distorted self, Beelzebub, who sought to guide his son to suffer through ‘Loss,’ was able to devise a reasonably satisfactory plot by pouring out his evil self and available resources.

The plan, devised through Mekilles—a contracted demon of a devil worshipper and his favored subordinate—was called the ‘Loss Induction Plan.’

It was a plan worthy of self-praise, completed by slightly manipulating fate to make his son lose something precious.

After placing his pawn near the village his son governed to induce a subjugation mission, he inserted ‘Mekilles’ transformation’ into the flow of fate, imposing an overwhelming risk of ‘certain death.’

Additionally, he gave Mekilles a centipede tentacle containing his tears—a single strike that could corrupt or kill anyone—and guided fate accordingly.

Ultimately, Mekilles’ tentacle was constrained to successfully strike someone, at the cost of confirming Mekilles’ collapse immediately after the attack…

However, not particularly wanting to see his son die at this point, and harboring parental love separate from demonic love, Beelzebub added an extra manipulation.

If his son were to become the target of this attack, fate would ensure that someone accompanying his son would take the hit and die instead.

The goal was to induce feelings of guilt in his son, leading him toward corruption.

Given the reality that his son, who had shown such a firm stance, was unlikely to change from just this one incident, it didn’t matter if it failed; planting doubt in his heart would be enough.

Well aware that the spiritual corruption of sentient beings had no chance of success without individual choice, Beelzebub had formulated this rather grandiose plot.

Of course, at first, he thought the plan might fail when his son set out alone with just his warhorse, but thanks to a development he never expected from such an insignificant creature, the plan nearly reached the point of success.

…If only that indigenous deity of his son’s world—whom he often wanted to kill for the devotion his son showed—hadn’t intervened.

Though tremendous disgust and revulsion rose from somewhere in his soul, Beelzebub suppressed it and quietly observed the situation.

Again, this was merely an attempt to recycle leftover resources. Since it was just something started with the simple mindset of ‘it would be nice if it worked,’ he(she) honestly didn’t think much of it.

The unpleasantness he felt was solely because some indigenous deity dared to interfere with his beloved son.

The thought process of a demon lord like Beelzebub, with his transcendent self, exists in a realm inaccessible to humans. Such a being judges by flows and possibilities, not by examining each individual event.

All flows and possibilities were saying that the prodigal son who had fled would eventually truly return to his embrace.

Since the timing of that return was completely separate from this flow, she had merely planned various events to meet her firstborn a little sooner.

One of countless selves observing the world from beyond human cognitive domains.

Beelzebub, ‘Gluttony,’ quietly assembled the next puzzle while reminiscing about an old lover.

No matter how much it was the dimension where his(her) dear firstborn existed, ‘Gluttony’ was too much of a big shot to focus solely on that one.

※ ※ ※

Hugo de Alzar. Baron Alzar was, as always, deeply immersed in carrying out his duties that day.

Punishing sinners, cultivating farmland, rebuilding the territory to his liking… days that were mundane but fulfilling.

Though it might have started as an escape from his wife’s death, by now, managing this territory had become both Hugo de Alzar’s duty and hobby.

The joy of holding and shaking this vast land in his grasp. The thrilling pleasure of having a population of 200,000 follow him. It was no wonder that Corin had compared Camille’s qualities unfavorably to Baron Alzar.

In truth, Camille was among the most outstanding heirs even among the middle ranks of the Frankish Kingdom, but to Corin, whose standards had been raised by observing Baron Alzar, something about Camille still felt lacking.

Of course, the issue stemming from his resemblance to ordinary beings rather than those led by divine imagery—the lack of leadership and charisma—could be somewhat problematic.

Anyway, while solving various problems of the territory facing winter, almost as if enjoying a game, and conscious of his wife Bella’s picture hanging on the wall, the Baron… recognized a magical communication device sending him a signal.

‘…Hmm?’

The bestowed power was communication and contact. A magical communication device created by his longtime companion who now guarded the castle’s archives.

Recognizing the unusual situation being transmitted from the device, which he shared as a pair with his son, the Baron, aware that it was about time for the regular contact, couldn’t hide the smile appearing on his face as he received the communication…

‘You, you heard the voice of Lord Jephthah?!’

[Yes! The priest serving the village’s Goddess Debona confirmed it.]

The news delivered by his excited son was something that even the Baron, who normally prided himself on his dignity and stoicism, could not possibly ignore.

Jephthah, the chief deity of the pantheon and the foremost being. Ruling the noble council of heaven, he was undisputedly the greatest faith of this era and the object of universal worship.

Of course, given his powerful influence, there were quite a few contact cases, and furthermore, hearing a god’s voice in this world wasn’t an extremely rare occurrence.

But just because it wasn’t rare didn’t diminish the value of hearing a deity’s voice.

[Um, and you know Gus, who was my warhorse…]

‘Yes, what about him?’

[He became a pegasus through Lord Jephthah’s grace.]

‘…!!’

Moreover, in a situation where an ordinary warhorse had transformed into a pegasus during the process of hearing that voice, the significance was immense.

Therefore, Hugo de Alzar, Baron Alzar, showed such joy at this tremendous opportunity his son had gained, as if it were his own achievement…

‘…I must act.’

Simultaneously, as the proud father of such a son, he gradually formulated several plans in his mind to assist his son.

While inwardly reassuring himself that nothing would go wrong.