Chapter 43: Murder and bisquits

I wanted to snort at the very idea of it. Biscuits in hell. I wish! But the truth was, no matter what you did, there was no place in there to grow wheat even for the simplest flat bread, and the only bees that lived around made only bitter honey from rotten flesh. Even with all the conquest I did, with all the demons I forced into working for my small comforts and pleasures, the palace I built to spare myself the weather of the place… You just couldn't build much when there's nothing to build from.

Rosha's naivete was so surprising, considering her tough and cynical demeanour. I found it cute. My mind began to calculate possibilities. After I deal with Teren, I could use Rosha not just for pleasure, but for business, too. At the very least, she can make me clothes and armour that will fit my body.

A tailor I was not, that's for sure.

"Is the Hell really separated in nine circles for different sins?" Rosha asked. Her eyes fell from my face to my wings, and just to rattle her, I made several rapid beats in the air. She jerked away, and I grinned.

"There are nine circles, but they aren't for sins. They are just places, regions. They are stacked on top of each other and connected only by a giant chasm in the middle of Hell and a few rivers. Souls always appear on the very top of the chasm, and then it's up to them and the demons that snatch them for food and entertainment, where they stop falling."

"You know, you don't look like a sort of demon people summon with spells, Voren. Are there different demons out there?"

"Lots. It's a chaotic place, Hell, and the demons are just as chaotic." I nodded and made another bite of the biscuit. A sweet taste of honey filled my mouth as I reminisced about my lives. "They come in two kinds. One is like animals, just stupid beasts. The others are like me. A soul in Hell can go two ways: they could forget everything they were and reincarnate, or they could cling to something until they begin to get used to the torments. By then, Hell marks them. Scorches skin to red and black, roughs fingers into claws… You sharpen your teeth on the bones of others, or you die and get thrown back to the start."

"You can die in Hell?" Rosha's beautiful blue eyes widened. "How?"

"Easily. But in Hell, souls are a material thing. It's not like here." I tapped my finger on the table. "In Hell there's no difference between your soul and your body."

"You don't have red skin or claws, Voren," she pointed out then.

A huff left my lips. "I'm not just any demon, either. I'm Devourer! When I got thrown into the mortal realm, I became just a slug, a simple slug! But I grew, and I evolved." And I didn't tell Rosha how exactly I evolved. I was pretty sure she won't understand. Cannibalism was condemned, wasn't it? And even if I wasn't a human in more than my looks at this point, from what I saw, humans didn't like ANYONE eating their kin.

They fussed so much about the corpses. I found it silly. Everyone else in Hell would've too, if they were in any mood to laugh in that shitty place.

Now Rosha fell silent. Her eyes dropped to the table as she thought, while I was deep in my own thoughts. Mine stemmed around Teren and how the best take him out. I had a few options, but I needed more information to proceed. If Rosha wasn't absolutely stupid, she must've had it.

"Does Teren adventure alone?" I asked.

She blinked at me in surprise, but a moment later, shook her head. "No, he has a team, of course. Everyone does! It's too dangerous to go alone."

I tsked. Too bad, attacking outside of the city was the easiest option. Now that meant that I would have to deal with other people as well, which meant additional trouble. "Fine. Do you know if Teren will stay in the city much longer?"

Rosha shook her head. "No. He could leave tomorrow if he sees a good quest, but there aren't much around. It's mostly kobolds out there. They breed like mice, and adventurers constantly have to cull them before they start attacking villages, but Risha told me Teren thinks it's too easy for him."

I hummed. "Does he live alone?"

"Yes. He has a house… but he is an adventurer. I thought about getting in, but I was afraid he would wake up before I even get to his bedroom."

"Could happen, but this is still the best place to catch him. No witnesses, the time when he is down…" I made another bite of the biscuit and was disappointed to realise that it was gone. Good thing I still had the rest. Well, after I kill Teren and take his valuables, I will be able to buy more. "You said he was a high-ranked adventurer. What are these ranks exactly?"

"There are five ranks: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. Each of them is separated into five more ranks from five to one. Everyone starts at Bronze Five, then rises to Bronze One as they defeat monsters and finish tasks for the Guild. After this, must pass an exam, and if you do, you will become Silver Five rank adventurer. And so on. Teren has Silver One rank, there's only three more adventurers with it who come to Glesk, and only one with Gold Five rank. People say that Teren could've taken the exam already, but maybe it was just his bragging. Either way, I think he should be around sixth or seventh level, but I have no way to know for sure."

I wish that told me anything, but… 'Pest, are you here? Answer a question for me.'

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Garessta

Fun fact: there's really such thing as bees that make honey out of meat. Carrion, specifically. I can't account for the taste, though. Apparently, no one tried it out. They care called 'vulture bees' and you can google that I'm not lying :>

By the way, I got your summoning pens, but I'm swamped here as I am... So thank you, but if my posting schedule is going somewhere, it's down, unless I can keep it up.

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