Episode 67: Cerberus, the Demon Beast
Lorea was in a good
mood as she prepared to go out to dinner with Lynn.
Standing in front of the mirror, she checked her
appearance over and over again and smiled.
(It's been years since
I've picked out an outfit to go out in.)
Since then, Lynn and Lorea had gone out together
many times.
For her, it was like going out with the cousins who
came to visit.
It was strange that she
had to go to the trouble of dressing up for the occasion, but he would take her
to a fancy restaurant, and since he would be wearing expensive clothes, she
wanted to wear something decent.
For her, who is always on edge from the relentless
bargaining with merchants, Lynn has become a refreshing change of pace.
After she finished dressing
up, she was about to leave the office in high spirits.
But as she was about to put her hand on the door,
she was interrupted by a subordinate.
“Lorea-sama. A letter
for you.”
Lorea gave her subordinate an unpleasant look. Her
subordinates always brought her nothing but gloomy news.
At some point, she began to feel uncomfortable just
talking to them.
“What is it? If it's not important, leave it for later.”
“A letter from Marche
Ancier's upper management.”
She suddenly turned pale.
“You idiot! Why didn't
you tell me earlier? Just give it to me.”
She berated her subordinate, then snatched the
letter roughly and looked over the contents.
The letter complained about the recent decline in
contributions, urged her to take immediate action, and warned her that her
current position could not be guaranteed if she continued.
After reading it, Lorea
grabbed the letter and went back to her usual nervous look.
(Oh, no. If I don't do
something, I'm really going to lose my job.
She grew impatient and at the same time remembered.
Not only is her position as the director of this office in jeopardy, but also
her position as a mage in the academy is in danger.
She was a good mage, but unfortunately, she was not
very good at learning.
It was all thanks to Marche Ancier's arrangement
that she was able to enter the academy and reach her current position.
When she was despairing about her future as a mage
in Renril, she was asked if she would like to work as a tax collector.
In the end, she did as they suggested, bribing the
officials of the Mage Association to enroll in the academy through the back
door and lining her pockets with the income from the tax collection business.
Therefore, to be
separated from them meant to lose everything.
Not only her current
income, but even her position as a mage at the academy would be in danger.
(Anyway, we have to do
something about Theo's company. To do that, I have to get Lynn to accept our
demands first.......)
Since then, she has
been negotiating with Lynn over and over again, but there's no sign of a
settlement.
Meanwhile, Theo's
company is still ruining Lorea's market.
She pulled herself
together and left the office, trying to keep her spirits up.
(This is not the time
to just sit around and do nothing. I have to use threats, blackmail, and
whatever else I can to get them to compromise quickly. If they continue to ask
for ridiculous amounts of money or act reluctant, I'll have to take a decisive
stance. If they still don't listen to me, I'll have no choice but to kill them.)
However, when she
actually meets Lynn again, Lorea's resolve is easily wavered.
When she arrived at the meeting place, he came
running up to her, wearing a cute tailcoat as usual, with a twinkle in his eye.
She couldn't help but loosen her tightly sealed lips
and lose her composure.
Lynn's eyes gazing into her own were as innocent as
could be.
There was no shallow
attempt to deceive the enemy, no lowly attempt to gain favor with superiors.
He seemed to respect Lorea from the bottom of his
heart.
The only person in this city who would give her this
kind of look was Lynn.
She didn't want to cloud his smile. And she wished
that, this time that she could be with Lynn, would last as long as possible.
“Hello, Lorea-san.
You're looking quite beautiful today.”
Lynn flattered her in
the usual way.
But Lorea didn't react too happily.
“Thank you. You're
looking pretty good too.”
“Thank you very much.
Let's go. I've selected a suitable restaurant for you. I'm sure you'll like it.
Negotiations should proceed quickly.”
“Well. Let’s see that
suitable restaurant shall we?”
(Let's wait until later
to try to screw him over with force and threats. That can wait, we can always
do that later. The time I'm spending with him now is far more precious than
that.)
If he doesn't give in
to my threats, I'll have to kill him.
If he did, that would be the end of the story.
Either way, Lynn would probably never contact me
again.
I wanted to avoid that.
(Let's wait and see.
There might be a better way.)
She chose to postpone her decision.
They had dinner for about an hour, but as usual,
nothing was going on regarding the takeover of the company.
On the other hand, they talked more and more about
the glorious future that awaited them after the deal.
Lynn and Lorea shared the same vision. A vision of
ruling Alfredo.
As they ate their food, Lynn shared his vision with
Lorea.
“Lorea-san. I've been
thinking. If we work together, we can even rule Alfredo.”
“Do you think so?”
“Yes, of course. You
should know by now that I have a lot of connections. Alfredo is a city where
wealth and status are everything. If Lorea's wealth and my connections are
combined, we will surely be able to establish a firm control over the city.”
“Yes, you're right.
Absolutely.”
“When the deal goes
through, build the largest mansion in the city on the 90th floor, in the middle
of the upscale residential district. Show everyone exactly who is the ruler of
this city. Everyone will know that you are the ruler of the city when you build
the most magnificent mansion anywhere in Alfredo's upscale residential area.
Then everyone will kneel at your feet. Everyone will bow before you, ask for
your permission to do anything, ask for your help, and give you gifts. The mansion
will have a large gate, a number of carriages, and an interior filled with
tasteful and expensive furniture and fancy fixtures and fittings. Hire
beautiful and witty servants, and tame cute pets and rare magical beasts. And
don't forget the large storehouse of gold and silver treasures. Gather all the
wealth in Alfredo and keep it in the warehouse. The only people who can enter
the warehouse are you and those you have given special permission to.”
(Ah, how good it
feels!)
Lorea was mesmerized by the vision of the future
that Lynn had drawn. Just listening to Lynn's story made her head spin.
“What else do we
need......? Oh, yes. I forgot something important. A large mansion needs
something. It is a hard-working and thoughtful butler who takes care of
everything in the house and comes to the scene as soon as the master rings the
bell. It should be a sturdy older gentleman with a rich white beard and a black
vest. I'll find someone suitable for Lorea-san's mansion and bring him to you.”
“I don't need any old
man. Why don't you be the butler?”
“No, no, no. In order
to maintain the appearance of the house, we must be mindful of the interior as
well. We need to have a proper butler. For that, it must be an old man with a
white beard. He has to have white hair.”
Lynn was obsessed with
strange things.
“I'd rather have you by
my side than someone like that.”
“I can't do that.”
“Why not?”
“I'm trying to reach
the top of the tower. My ambition is not limited to ruling Alfredo. I wish to
become a mage of higher rank using my position here in Alfredo as a foundation.”
“What nonsense! It's
not worth it. You don't have to go to the top of the tower. Why don't you just
stay in Alfredo forever?”
“No, I have to. I need
to go to the top.”
“Why?”
Lynn smiled in annoyance.
“I can't tell you why.
I can't give you the details, but I know I have to go for it. Lorea-san. I hope
you will support my dream.”
Lorea had mixed
feelings.
She was torn between wanting to support Lynn and
wanting him to stay in Alfredo forever.
“Well, it's getting
late, isn't it? I have an appointment, so I have to go.”
“I'm sorry I can't be
with you.”
“You'll see me again
soon. I'll take you to another restaurant tomorrow.”
“Are we going somewhere
else tomorrow?”
“Yes. It's a nice place.”
“You know a lot of
places.”
“No, not really.......
I have a friend who knows a lot about this.”
Lynn looks down and
blushes.
Lynn was so expressive
in his praise of others, but when he was praised himself, he would suddenly
become very shy.
Lorea became more and more attached to Lynn.
“I guess I have no
choice. I have a meeting to go to, but I can't say no if you ask me to. I'll
see you tomorrow.”
Lorea had forgotten her original purpose. She was
seeing Lynn just to see Lynn.
While Lynn showed Lorea a tremendous vision of the
future, he also remembered to show her respect.
“You're really good at
ruling, aren't you, Lorea-san? How do you manage to gain control of people's
minds so well?”
“Ufufu. That's right.
It's scary .... It may be time to show it to you.”
Lorea thought about it for a moment, then turned to
Lynn and said.
“Why don't you stop by
my office on your way home today? I'll show you something good.”
“Are you sure? Then I'll take your offer and come by.”
Lynn was led to the
basement of Lorea's office. There were a number of iron fence cages in the
basement.
All of them are locked
up tightly with magic and covered with cloth.
Lynn was led by Lorea
to the back of the room, passing by cages in between.
Lynn could feel that it
was suddenly getting hot and humid since they had entered the basement.
(What's going on?
That's strange. I thought it would be cooler if I went underground.)
Lynn wondered and
followed Lorea.
Suddenly, Rain, who was
on Lynn's shoulders, came onto his chest.
(Rain? What's up?)
Lynn felt Rain
shivering in his clothes.
He seemed to sense some
kind of danger.
Lynn tilted his head,
but decided to go along with Lorea.
(Lorea-san won't hurt
me. It's okay.)
Lynn was brought to the
far end of the basement and in front of the largest of the many cages.
The cage was covered
with a cloth so that you could not see inside.
It was the hottest part
of this underground room.
“Come on. Look at this.
Cerberus, my precious Demon Beast.”
Lorea waved her wand to
remove the cloth that was covering it.
Lynn gasped when he saw
the thing in the cage.
There was a dog-shaped
magical beast with three heads and a flaming mane.
Its body length is much
larger than that of a lion.
Cerberus lay on the
floor with its three heads curled up together, its mane of orange flames
dancing endlessly around its body.
One of the three heads
of Cerberus turned its small, hollow eyes in Lynn's direction, out of
proportion to its body.
When he realized that
it was a unknown child in front of him, he bared his fangs, growled, and raised
his prone body. The other two heads also turn to look at Lynn.
Suddenly, Cerberus
roared, and opened its large mouth to jump at Lynn.
Cerberus's attempts
were thwarted by the chains that bound him and the iron fence of the cage, but
the large mouth, opened to its fullest extent, was right in front of Lynn.
Its jaws were large
enough to swallow Lynn's small body headfirst, and its fangs were sharp enough
to tear through Lynn's soft flesh and crush his bones.
“HEE-“
“Scary, isn't it? I've magically created the legendary creatures of
mythology. Anyone who crosses me. I've used it to silence them all.”
Lorea stared into Lynn's eyes.
As if to confirm the
fear and terror that was in there.
“If you betray me, you
will become food for this one. Be careful not to let that happen to you.”
“O-Of course.”
Lynn turned pale and
shook his head multiple times.
Next time: Episode 68 ”Illywia, Bringing Down the Hammer of Justice
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