It’s Not a Meeting, It’s an Invasion! 3

The Dunhill Family’s mansion is said to originally be a residential area in the Glectus layer used by ordinary citizens.

In fact, this wasn’t a very good place for the Dunhill Family, who are classified as the highest nobility in the center, to settle.

Nobles are, first of all, the vested interests and have absolute power and wealth in the Ark, so they naturally want to block any possibility of mingling with or getting close to ordinary commoners.

On the other hand, how much relative deprivation and inferiority would commoners feel if they had a wealthy person right next to them that they couldn’t even compare to?

Of course, in this day and age, no matter how much the weak rise up, they can’t resist those with power and money in the end. And if necessary, they can even brainwash entire layers.

However, that brainwashing and formula all cost money and resources, and it’s more beneficial to block the elements of conflict from the source. So, rather than mingling with commoners, the wealthy chose to create wealthy layers like the Ruincrest layer to distance themselves from commoners.

But the Dunhill Family chose to buy the entire Glectus layer.

They even went to the trouble of creating an unofficial market-ruler position here.

Anyway, since they remodeled an entire layer district into a mansion, you can realize the Dunhill Family’s enormous wealth and power. But the question that follows is why the Dunhill Family, who lack nothing, remodeled a place where perfectly good people lived.

‘There are many lands in the center of the Ark where the vested interests live. There are quite a few lands with abundant nature, so why do they insist on squeezing into a place where ordinary citizens live and causing trouble? Do they have a hobby of sipping tea on a high terrace and laughing at the sight of commoners struggling to live?’

Here, the Dunhill Family’s irrational and unreasonable blind tendencies are revealed again.

‘If we settle in a place with many people, won’t we leave behind many descendants?’

‘Leaving behind many descendants means that many who will become our masterpiece ancestor will be born!’

‘Moreover, this is a place where many returnees, reincarnators, and those presumed to be possessed have been discovered.’

‘Beelzebub will be pleased!’

‘Illogical and foolish thought. Let’s do it immediately.’

Just like how there are superstitions like feng shui, ley lines, and water veins on Earth, there were naturally superstitions in the Ark, where people live.

The Dunhill Family happened to believe in and pursue superstitions related to abundance and fertility. According to that superstition, this residential area of the Glectus layer was the best place to settle.

The difference from Earth is that you can use sorcerous effects or real magic because of this superstition, but still, superstition is just superstition.

It is said that the number of humans exactly matches a specific area, the cycle of the Artificial Sun is adjusted so that the length of day and night is exactly half, and other minor and complex conditions are perfectly met, but still, Fira thought it was complete nonsense.

“But seeing as you were born, it seems like it wasn’t such nonsense?”

“That can’t be. Even I can see that it’s a nonsense superstition.”

“Huh?”

“From the Dunhill Family’s perspective, I’m completely from a collateral line. No, I’m beyond a collateral line, I’m from a mixed-blood background.”

“Gasp.”

In fact, Fira wasn’t born in the Dunhill main family, but from a collateral line that was completely far away.

What, she just looks like an evil young lady… no, a noble young lady herself, so I thought she was definitely a precious daughter who received the noble blood of the Dunhill Family and ran away from home because she was fed up with the family?

“I’m from a collateral line, you know? I didn’t even receive proper etiquette education, and I didn’t receive proper support compared to my other siblings.”

“What’s with that way of speaking?”

“Huh, I just copied it from a novel.”

“…No, it’s incredibly natural for that? You’re always like ‘Ohohoho!’ with the girls in the Ruincrest layer? Come to think of it, you blended in incredibly naturally in the Ruincrest layer too, didn’t you? Can you do that just by reading a novel?”

“Ah, that? When I devoured one of my sixth cousin sisters who grabbed my hair, saying that the family was calling me, it was engraved in my body? Hohohot~”

“What.”

Ah, come to think of it, the Dunhill Family was very greedy for Fira and praised her as a masterpiece, and at the same time, they were desperate to drag her home.

It was like that recently, so it must have been much worse in the past.

After Fira became a First-Class Overseer and the supreme commander of the external expeditionary force, it decreased a bit, but in the past, assassins and kidnappers came several times a day.

From the outside, you might say, “Aren’t they all the same maggots anyway?” but the Dunhill Family’s main family is the direct descendant of the Demon King Beelzebub… so you can see that those with the form of pure white maggots are the root.

In comparison, Fira is far from pure white, and all sorts of races and factors are mixed, so the color isn’t consistent. It’s not rainbow-colored, but black, red, yellow, or blue, she possessed a large number of maggots of all colors in her body.

The color alone is evidence of her mixed-blood status, but Beelzebub properly manifested and popped out from there, so the Dunhill main family must be in a state of utter turmoil.

“Anyway, it’s much more convenient and advantageous for social life to imitate the dignity and appearance of a noble young lady than to be a tomboyish slob or just wear a suit?”

“Why does an Overseer need that?”

“There’s an implicit discrimination between Overseers from commoner backgrounds and those from noble backgrounds~ It’s like that everywhere in society. There’s really no such thing as equality in places where people live~”

“That’s a sad fact…”

“Well, I didn’t lie. It’s true that I’m a mixed-blood, but it’s also true that I have the Dunhill Family name.”

With those words, Fira knocked loudly on the Dunhill Family’s door.

On the surface, it was just a door made of high-quality wood, but in reality, all sorts of spells and formula were cast from the surface to prevent intruders, so the moment you broke through, an emergency would be declared in the area.

“Oh my, it’s quiet? Normally, by now, family exorcists would be summoned from all directions around me and Alice and surround us and make a fuss….”

“Really?”

“Our maggot family is famous for persecuting outsiders. Even if an administrator comes, it’ll be like that until the purpose and identity of the visit are clearly revealed~”

In fact, from Alice’s perspective, it didn’t matter what the treatment was.

In the first place, Alice didn’t like the Dunhill Family, and the reason she came all the way to the Glectus layer was to find fault with the Dunhill Family and suppress them with force.

Alice likes Fira, but the reason she likes Fira is because of Fira personally, not because the Dunhill Family added anything to it.

Rather, from Alice’s perspective, she wanted the Dunhill Family to pick a fight as soon as possible.

That way, she could attack legally… no, there’s no law, but she could attack with justification, right?

She had also regained the Demon King’s body, so she wanted to properly use her power.

Anyway, Fira knocked on the door three times like that.

Then she waited for 3 minutes and knocked again.

What is it.

Why isn’t there any reaction?

Does it mean they’re going to kick us out with no response?

That’s not right… they were the ones who invited us here, right?

-Knock knock knock.

“…Hmm, something’s strange? Why is it so quiet at this point?”

“Hmm.”

Let’s just break it.

Alice, having come to that conclusion, wrapped mana around one hand.

She smiled inwardly at the mana that wrapped around her much more tightly than in her android can days. Soon, before Fira could say anything to stop her, she punched out with her fist, and the mana wrapped around her hand pierced straight through the firmly closed door.

“Shall we go in now?”

“Well, since they didn’t open the door even after we knocked this much, it’s the family’s lack of virtue~”

Anyway, Fira didn’t really like the main family either, so she didn’t care much about breaking the door.

With that, the two of them stepped inside and immediately spread their senses.

The moment the door opens and you feel the most relieved is the most textbook moment to ambush, right?

But even though Alice and Fira spread their senses at the same time, there was nothing. Even Theresa, who spread Alice’s five senses sensors over a wide area, said, “There’s nothing, human.”

“…Hmm, something’s strange. We definitely received an invitation… no, even if they intentionally ignored the knocking, if we broke the door, family exorcists or my half-siblings would have come and caused a fuss.”

“Not even a magical bombardment, let alone a single ant.”

“This is a first for me too. Could it be that the family’s keynote has changed while I was away?”

“What’s the original keynote?”

“Well, it’s simple. They intimidate the other party with power and wealth, threaten the other party with strength and numbers, and take the upper hand in the conversation… a sluggish and common keynote for those who have it.”

In fact, Fira doesn’t think the Dunhill Family’s keynote has changed.

The greed of those who control the Dunhill Family, the so-called ‘elders,’ was the most hateful thing Fira had ever experienced.

She doesn’t know if the reason they don’t want to let go of what they have is to properly realize Beelzebub’s manifestation, or if they just want to accumulate their own selfish desires and wealth.

However, those who have been moving the Dunhill Family since before the Ark was built have not been replaced and are still alive.

‘The old men who hold the decision-making power of the Dunhill Family, led by the head of the family, don’t want to let go of what they have as much as the vested interests of the Ark’s noble class. There’s no way the keynote will change. In that case, it’s more likely that something happened to the family…’

Something happened to that Dunhill Family?

Did someone attack them?

No way.

Fira thought that this assumption was absurd.

The Ruincrest layer is a noble layer, but it’s just a commoner level compared to the Dunhill Family.

The Dunhill Family is almost ranked first in the Ark when it comes to single forces, so is it possible that this family was attacked by something and destroyed overnight?

“No way, that can’t be.”

“What?”

“No, I was just thinking if the Dunhill Family, which I hate so much, was destroyed overnight by an attack from some attacker or calamity.”

“Huh?”

Alice tilted her head at those words.

No, doesn’t it make sense?

We came as guests now… no, we’re not even guests, we just broke the door and came in, but the security system isn’t even working.

According to Fira, a few exorcists and maggots should have popped out and greeted us with force, but there’s nothing like that now and it’s quiet….

“Ohohot, that can’t be~ The Dunhill Family is a family that I truly despise and hate, but the money, power, and strength that this family has are real. I can’t even claim the family’s extinction so carelessly….”

It was the moment when Fira and Alice turned the corner while saying that.

There was someone.

A staggering gait.

A slow gait.

We’ve been spreading our senses all this time, and we’re only feeling it now?

Are they really that skilled?

Fira and Alice immediately tensed up and prepared for battle.

But what came out of the corner was something in the shape of a human whose whole body was burned to a crisp.

“….”

“Alice, back away.”

Fira’s face changed horribly.

That’s a maggot.

A member of the Dunhill Family.

It’s in the shape of a human, but Fira could feel the traces of maggots that were full inside… no, that used to be full inside.

In other words, a member of the Dunhill Family had been turned to ashes and burned by someone.

Who is it.

What is going on.

What the hell happened in the family?

“Ah….”

It turned its gaze to Fira and Alice in a state where its whole body was burned.

And it collapsed.

Alice quickly hugged the collapsing person.

“Alice…”

“It’s okay.”

Even though they came in with a full of hostility towards the Dunhill Family, they didn’t want to be hostile for no reason to someone who was helplessly crumbling before their eyes.

“This child is okay… no, they’re not okay. Theresa?”

『Human, the individual’s body has already stopped its life activities. It is presumed that the body, which has become a corpse, is being forcibly moved by advanced puppetry and sorcerous restraints.』

“Is the caster already dead?”

『Biological death has been confirmed. The existence confirmed as a maggot inside has also completely stopped its life activities for now. It seems that complete death will be achieved when the mana used in the puppetry runs out.』

“….”

Like an endlessly burning firewood turning to ashes and crumbling, the thing in the shape of a human fixed its gaze on Fira and Alice even though its eyes had already melted, and started to say something.

The voice was not heard.

Of course.

The vocal cords had already burned.

So Alice decided to take out her power and test it.

She freely manipulated all kinds of mana.

The power and authority that the human Demon King had.

Of course, she had forgotten all the transcendent magic of her prime, such as dropping meteorites and overturning the earth.

However, the instinct to move and control mana is completely etched into this body.

‘You said you would die if you ran out of mana for puppetry, right? Then I will grant you mana for puppetry.’

She felt the thread winding around her hand.

A sensation that was blue, cool, hot, and even viscous.

They all blended together and swirled at Alice’s fingertips.

Like the fingertips of a conductor leading an orchestra, Alice’s hand lingered in the air for a moment before descending like a feather and touching the forehead of the corpse before her.

“…!”

The corpse moves.

Its crumbled body could not return to its original state.

However, the maggots within.

Some of the maggots, who were desperately using puppetry, opened their eyes, and as the maggots opened their eyes, the human-bodied thing barely opened its mouth.

“In, trud…er.”

“Intruder?”

Fira’s eyes widened at those words.

To the Dunhill Family?

Who?

An attack?

Who dares???

“Our…family’s, end…has…come…”

“Excuse me?????”

No, even if someone were to destroy them, I was going to do it!

Fira and Alice had the same thought at the same time.