episode_0017

“Shock! An employee from Penal Enforcement Department Team 1 was involved in the worst corruption…!?”

“Numerous missing supplies and undeclared weapons found in the cactus garden he purchased!”

“Employee C requested protection for his family on the condition of his surrender. He revealed that Section Chief Joy of Happy World threatened him—.”

“The undeclared weapons are presumed to belong to the coup rebel forces—.”

I read the newspaper again and again.

Krates, why did this guy go and surrender on his own?

What are they saying came out of that garden?

Why on earth did this happen?

‘Ah, this must be a dream.’

It was clearly a dream.

Probably a terrible nightmare.

So, as I was slapping my cheeks, Department Head Bones approached and said.

“What on earth kind of terrifying method did you use that Krates confessed all his sins so smoothly and surrendered! Section Chief Joy, I… I’m starting to get a little scared of you…”

“Devil Joy! Where are you! Devil Joy!”

Soon, someone burst into the office, calling me by a strange nickname.

When I turned my head, to my surprise, the real horned devil Astaroth approached me, her face flushed red and fuming!

“You! How dare you cause such a thing right before the audit day! It seems you’re trying to put a burden on our audit team, and indeed, your evil actions are worthy enough to proudly bear the alias ‘devil’! Hmph!”

What nonsense is this person talking about again?

As I frowned, Department Head Bones nudged my side.

“According to Happy World’s regulations, the produce of the land belongs solely to its owner, doesn’t it? The weapons found on the land you bought to threaten Krates. Their ownership is—.”

“They’re yours! To investigate them, we have no choice but to ask for your permission as the landowner. No way, you’re trying to impede our audit team and create a burden to easily get past this large-scale audit. What a truly remarkable strategist you are.”

Tsk-.

Astaroth clicked her tongue.

“This Happy World audit will have to proceed in a simplified manner. Because the leads on those rebel bastards have finally started to be caught, there’s no manpower to use for the Penal Enforcement Team’s audit. Joy, it’s a pity that the opportunity to clash with you has become distant!”

What? The major audit is being skipped?

“That’s impossib─.”

“Wow! Hurray for Section Chief Joy!”

“The audit is being postponed! It’s unprecedented!”

“We’re saved! The tiresome document shredding is finally over!”

“Section Chief Joy, you are our savior!”

My small protest was as powerless as a small paper boat before the employees’ shouts, which were like fierce waves.

As a paper boat pushed by fierce winds settled on the beach, I slumped into my office chair.

# # #

“If I hadn’t surrendered, I can’t imagine what Section Chief Joy would have done, holding my family hostage! That guy is precisely the type to do such things!”

Krates poured out his resentment to Astaroth, the assigned investigator from the audit team.

“I, who worked in the same workplace, know well just how terrifying that man is! I know him well, I tell you! So, it was better to surrender and request protection for my family!”

What would happen if Section Chief Joy, who had cunningly manipulated the resolute Sisyphus and Kronos, who were firm as rocks, by all sorts of methods, were to target Krates’s family?

Astaroth nodded in agreement at the horrifying thought, which was terrible even to imagine.

“You made an excellent choice. Section Chief Joy is called ‘the devil’ in this Happy World to such an extent that he must have learned torture and threats as if they were basic education. If you hadn’t surrendered—.”

Audit Team Leader Asterohte, her eyes sparkled.

“Section Chief Joy would truly have torn your family to shreds. I know well because I’m the same kind of devil. Section Chief Joy is the kind of person who would take your family’s souls as collateral and commit all sorts of acts. Even horrifying acts.”

“Ho…horrible acts….”

“He would have committed horrible and terrifying acts too! That’s precisely what a devil is!”

“Uwaaaah…!”

At the words of the employee dispatched from outside, Krates felt a chilling rise of goosebumps.

So, as he trembled like a ten-year-old child who had lost his mother, the devil asked in a sweet voice.

“So, if you know anything, tell us everything truthfully. Because I’ll reduce your sentence. The real estate, why did you buy it? Were you involved with those rebel bastards from the beginning?”

“…That’s not true! I was just desperate to collect money…. But someone put a letter in my locker. It said they knew about the crime I committed… and to stay quiet if I didn’t want it to be revealed….”

Someone threatened Krates using his embezzlement as leverage and hid things on his land.

Although he knew it was a dangerous thing that could bring about his ruin, he couldn’t bring himself to confess his sins to everyone.

Because if he was fired from his job, his wife and son would have to live an arduous life once again.

“I…. I was afraid of poverty.”

Krates was a prince of Phoenicia, a very small and weak nation.

Although it was a kingdom whose name wasn’t even recorded in historical texts, he was a prince and lived a somewhat prosperous life.

But when an unusually long winter began, he lost his kingdom and was driven out onto the streets.

Krates was royalty who had never done any work.

He starved for many days, and his wife, Kshali, barely survived by sewing or helping with others’ farm work.

But even such a life couldn’t last long.

Because due to the excessively prolonged winter, his son fell ill and his wife gradually lost her vitality.

“P-please, give me something to eat. Please, something to eat…. My son and wife are starving…. Please, please give us something to eat. Please….”

Krates put down his pride and even begged.

He didn’t care about others’ stares, even when picking up fruit or pieces of meat that people threw on the ground.

But, in the end, his wife and son couldn’t overcome the harsh winter and left his arms.

Krates despaired.

More coldly and quietly than winter itself.

Truly sad people couldn’t even scream or cry.

He jumped down from atop the castle walls, where only faint traces remained.

And he became a prisoner of this Happy World, where he was able to reunite with his family again.

The ill-fated prince, Krates, was rather happy in this horrible abyss.

Because he met his family again.

And he swore.

That he would never let his family starve again.

That he would rise up, even if it meant using any means necessary, and would not inflict hardship on his family.

Was that the problem?

Krates ended up getting entangled in too many unfortunate matters.

“I swear I know nothing about the rebels. I only knew that they were hiding something in my field. And my son and wife are not at fault at all. Please, they….”

He couldn’t even rashly say he hoped for forgiveness.

Because in this Happy World, nothing could be certain.

So, what will happen to Krates now?

Will he become one who receives punishment, from one who used to execute it?

It wasn’t a common occurrence, but it wasn’t unheard of either.

“How trivial. I thought I could catch a lead on those rebel bastards, but he was just a low-ranking subordinate among low-ranking subordinates. He’s probably nothing more than a warehouse keeper. You’ll probably be fired.”

“Fi-fired…? Not punishment…?”

“There’s a person pleading that you’re not at fault at all, that it’s all his fault. I mean Section Chief Joy. That man is shouting that he himself caused this entire incident.”

“…What!? Joy…!?”

Krates was startled.

The most unbelievable person was wishing for his lenient treatment.

Joy had no relation to this matter.

Rather, he was an excellent individual who, with his own abilities, noticed the embezzlement and tried to resolve it.

But why was he claiming that this incident was his own fault?

“He’s even insisting that he embezzled the money to buy the land himself, you know. Honestly, isn’t his shamelessness truly worthy of being called ‘the devil’?”

Krates was speechless.

He was immersed in deep thought.

‘His caliber is different from mine.’

What if Joy had experienced the same situation as him?

Krates would have freely laughed at and mocked Joy.

But Joy did not do so.

‘Indeed, he is the man who got a job in this Happy World with a living body and became a section chief in just two years. My complete defeat. Even if I challenge him again multiple times, I have no confidence I can win.’

A few days later, Krates was released, looking at the blazing sun of the underworld.

It was the audit team’s judgment that no more significant information could be obtained from Krates.

Because regarding the incident related to the rebels, he was merely a low-ranking subordinate who had only provided the land.

Of course, he wasn’t without guilt.

He received a judgment of probation, and therefore a competent supervisor was assigned to him.

The supervisor was a man called ‘the devil’ even in Happy World, which was full of terrifying employees.

“Krates, I’ve been assigned the role of supervising your probation period. If you commit even a small wrongdoing during this period, you will immediately become a prisoner receiving punishment without any further probation.”

“…Joy.”

“I wish you would commit a crime, Krates. Only then can I bear the responsibility of that supervision and also put down a heavy burden. But please, don’t live by committing crimes, Krates.”

With a gesture—.

The man pointed to a certain corner with a nod of his chin.

There, a small boy and a woman in a shabby coat were standing, holding hands.

“Your family was standing in that spot continuously until you were released.”

“H-honey. Son…”

Krates collapsed to his knees.

Tears, cloudier than Happy World’s fog, blurred his vision so that he couldn’t see anything at all.

But he clearly felt his wife and son approach and hold his shoulders.

Krates felt the smell of hardship from them.

The musty, clinging smell of poverty and severe hardship.

The times of suffering and hardship, which he had so desperately wanted to keep away from his family, had returned.

Since Krates lost his job, his family would again have to endure hunger and live in this barren Happy World.

So, as Krates only shed tears and repeatedly apologized, saying, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” his wife, Kshali, spoke.

“Honey, don’t worry. We’ve got a large sum of money. Someone bought a lot of the cactuses I’d grown at a high price, so I’m going to use that money to start a flower shop. It’s something I’ve wanted to try for a long time.”

Flower shop work would be arduous.

Her body would undoubtedly become covered in dirt.

To make his wife suffer so.

Krates felt boundlessly pathetic.

“Kshali, for you, who grew up like a princess, to have to do rough work once again…. I promised I wouldn’t make you suffer, at least not in this Happy World….”

He was a failure as a husband.

The moment he thought he deserved punishment for that sin, Mrs. Kshali tenderly cupped his cheeks.

“Honey, look at my hands. They’ve become rough and ugly from touching dirt while tending the garden, haven’t they? But….”

Softly—

Mrs. Kshali gently helped Krates stand up.

“With these hands, I can hold you and we can stand together like this, can’t we? At least here in Happy World, we can be together forever, can’t we? Because here, it’s a world without death or separation.”

“But, I…”

“Or, are my hands, which have touched dirt and fertilizer, no longer beautiful? Have I lost the right to be by your side with these hands?”

At his wife’s quiet question, Krates slowly looked at her hands.

Her fingertips, which she used to boast were more beautiful than Helen’s, were now, before he knew it, covered in roughness and calluses.

But those hands seemed to have bloomed more beautifully than any flower Krates had ever seen until now.

“No, your hands are… still more beautiful than Helen’s.”

Their family now embraced each other.

Seeing that sight, Section Chief Joy slowly turned his steps.

“Not only fired, but you also have such a wonderful family. Krates, I truly envy you.”

Of course, no one could hear his muttering.

Section Chief Joy now returned to his own home.

A house full of thorny cactuses everywhere.

Towards the man who commuted to and from work from there every day, people said in unison:

“To keep so many of those terrifying torture instruments at home.”

“According to rumors, he’s not satisfied with an ordinary bed, so he only feels comfortable by lying on cactuses—.”

“Truly a terrifying and dreadful devil of thorns!”