Chapter 130: A Victorious Departure (1)

「So, what has Lord Seiya been up to lately? 」

「He’s been training with Celseus non-stop. 」

Five days had passed since then. At this precise moment I was cooking inside the Porta’s kitchen, and talking with Uno at the same time. I sighed while cutting the vegetables with a kitchen knife.

「Ahh. I was able to turn into a devil, but it was all for nothing. 」

「Maybe he doesn’t want to fight against Lady Lista, don’t you think so?」

「Hmm, I wonder about that. I really doubt that he’s that gentle, you know.」

Anyway, I had to concentrate on cooking. Many of the ingredients from the Underworld were unfamiliar to me, but I had no problem knowing them because I used my Appraisal skills. The Underworld dishes prepared by Uno and Due were not bad. However, I wanted to cook something that Seiya would eat in Japan. Therefore, I was trying to create a dish that resembled the cuisine of his homeland.

「I think I’m going to make curry today. Let’s see, where do you have the spices?」

「The spices are on that shelf over there. 」

「Thank you! 」

I went to the shelf, which Uno told me about and…

「Gyah!? 」

I was extremely surprised. Celseus was crouching down next to that shelf!

「Wha…Wha…What the hell are you doing over there!? 」

Although Celseus turned into a devil, his body was full with bruises and his horns were missing from his head.

「It’s obvious, isn’t it!! I’m hiding from that hero!! 」

I stared at Celseus with disdainful eyes.

「You really are stupid, aren’t you? Didn’t you know that this would happen in the end?」

「I’m sure that the devil me engulfed my heart with darkness! That’s why I became a little bit overconfident!」

「Oh my. That’s strange. As long as you don’t activate it in the earthly worlds, there shouldn’t be any devilish corruption of your soul.」

「See? Uno says that you’re okay! You’re suffering now because it’s your fault!」

「Ugh… 」

However, Celseus was shaking with his head too much. I bet that he could no longer hear my words.

「Scary…That guy is so scary…! Every time I turned into a devil, he’d ask me to do more and more training! So, each time I became a devil, the more he pushed me into a corner…!」

「Is…Is that so? 」

「Lady Lista. Lord Celseus looks very tired. Let’s leave him alone for a while.」

I left the shivering Celseus and I went back to cooking. But, after a while, Seiya came to the kitchen himself.

「Hey, Lista. Have you seen Celseus? 」

I didn’t know what to do. But, I knew that I couldn’t deceive Seiya. Therefore, I pointed silently to the corner of the kitchen. Seiya walked in, and then he grabbed Celseus and dragged him out there as if he was holding a cat by its neck.

「Uahhhhhhh!! Stop, stop, stop, stopppppp!! I don’t want to gooooo!! Please, somebody help meeeeee!!」

The Swordsman God kept crying out loud. He looked like a child being taken away…We…Well, you reap what you sow! Good luck, Celseus! Have patience until Seiya’s level goes up!

—

And then, at noontime I brought the curry to the garden, which was now Seiya’s training grounds. I saw that Celseus fell down on the ground. It seemed that he fainted. After I put my hand on Celseus’ head to check his health, I invited Seiya to the garden table to eat my curry.

「By the way, Seiya. Is your level going up nicely? 」

「Yeah. It seems that I’ve just reached the limit. 」

「So fast!! Then, does that mean that you’re ready now!? 」

「No. There’s one step left. 」

After Seiya finished eating my curry, he stood up and walked away. I followed him immediately.

「Hey, where are you going? 」

「I’m heading for the town. 」

When the Underworld people saw Celseus and me, they would lick their lips with their tongues and smile at us with creepy grins. I was terrified of them, so I never went far from Uno’s house. However, Seiya wanted to go to that town in his spare time after he finished his training with Celseus. Regardless of my fears, I followed Seiya, but kept close to him.

…In the vicinity of the Shrine of the Six-Realms of Existence, where Hades lived, the eerie people of the Underworld wandered freely on the streets. I noticed that many of them rolled on the ground with just their heads. Nonetheless, when they saw Seiya…

「Oh my, Mister Seiya! 」

「Hello! 」

「How are you doing today? 」

I didn’t know why, but they were saying “hello” to Seiya as if they were his friends!

…Wha…What on earth!! He looked like a celebrity of this town!!

A woman from the Underworld, whose body looked like a centipede, smiled gently when she saw Seiya in town. I tried to be like Seiya, and said hello in a natural way.

「Hello, nice to meet you! 」

Then, the centipede woman distorted her face, and began to lick her lips with her tongue.

「Whoaaaaa! Ohhhhhh! A godddddd! Give me your HPPPPPP!」

「What!? Her attitude changed drastically!? Why did she greet me so differently!?」

I immediately hid behind Seiya’s back. Uno said that the “people of the Underworld respected the gods”, but…It didn’t look like it. Rather, it looked like I was “food that gave them HP”, wasn’t that right!?

However, Seiya walked away without worrying too much about me and stopped in front of a store. After we dived into that wooden building, I was extremely surprised to find swords, shields, and armory on display.

「Ehh!! The Underworld had a weapons shop!? 」

An Underworld person with tentacles came from behind the counter with a zigzagging movement. This person, who resembled an octopus from Planet Earth, was probably the owner of this shop.

「Have you received the one that I requested? 」

「Yes, it has arrived. However, it was hard to get it in the first place. You, my dear customer, kept saying strange things such as spares of spares.」

Apparently, Seiya was already familiar with this place. The owner, an octopus with many tentacles, shook his head and placed on the counter a slightly dull vermilion armor and a sword of the same color.

「Seiya, did you order weapons? 」

「Yeah. I asked for more, but he said that it was impossible. So, I had to reluctantly reduce the amount.」

「Just be more moderate with your requests! What you have now it’s already enough!」

The shop owner looked quite stunned when he saw me scream at Seiya. But, then I noticed some irregularity about this situation.

「Eh, wait a second!! Weapons bought in the Underworld can be taken to earthly worlds!?」

「Sure. What you buy here, it’s yours. It doesn’t matter where you’ll go. You can use your weapons because you bought them yourself.」

Is…Is that so!? That would be absolutely impossible in the Gods’ realm!! The rules of the Underworld were certainly loose!!

However, the Twisted Geabrande was unlikely to have weapons and armor. So, it was actually great that Seiya could find good equipment in here.

…So, Seiya was already preparing for his equipment while training at the same time!

I was secretly impressed. But the owner, who seemed to be gentle at first, changed his complexion quite suddenly.

「Well then, we have to negotiate the price of these weapons now…」

No…No way!! Don’t tell me that he’d want me to be humiliated again!?

I took I step back when I feared by destiny. However, Seiya said the following words.

「Don’t worry. I’ve already prepared the payment in advance. 」

「Eh? 」

Seiya took something out of his bag.

「This is my payment…“The shameful horns of the Swordsman God”. 」

「Wha…Wha…What a great HP they have!! 」

Ehhhh!? Were those things a substitute for money!? Just how many Celseus’ horns were taken from his head!?

Eventually, they exchanged twenty Celseus’ horns for ten pieces of Underworld swords and armors. Seiya came out of this shop equipped with many weapons. I used my Appraisal skills to know more about the slightly dull vermilion equipment.

『Swords and armors of the Underworld…The equipment from the Underworld is made of Flame Steel*. It’s more durable than diamonds and platinum. A super rare equipment that can only be obtained in the Underworld!』

「Ehh!! That’s very good equipment, isn’t it!! 」

「Yeah. It’s more powerful than a platinum sword or other platinum materials.」

「That’s great for you, Seiya!! 」

After that, Seiya, who was a Magic Warrior, thought about buying a shield from the Underworld. He said “just as a precaution”.

Just as we did several times before in the earthly worlds, Seiya immediately entered the shop next door after leaving the weaponry shop. I noticed many strange objects in this new shop, but I also noticed familiar herbs that resembled the medicinal herbs that we bought on our previous quests. It seemed that this shop was a tool shop of the Underworld.

「That, here, over there. I’m going to buy everything you have there.」

This time, the shop owner was like the Durahan**, a person in an armor but without a head. Actually, Seiya wasn’t mindful about it, but was explosive as always.

「I’m glad that you bought a ridiculous amount of my tools, but can you pay for it?」

Seiya replied to the shop owner without hesitation and showed him a large number of Celseus’ horns.

「It’s the “shameful horns of the Swordsman God”.」

「Ohhh! Sold!! Take whatever you want!! 」

What!! He could buy everything!? Just like that!? Celseus’ horns were quite useful and versatile!!

Seiya bought a lot of Underworld tools that he didn’t even know how to use them. When we tried to leave the shop, the owner came after Seiya and said the following words.

「My shop has run out of stock. Now, I can’t sell anything to other customers. If I may ask…If you could provide me with more…」

「What a troublesome guy. It can’t be helped though… 」

Then, Seiya grabbed my hair and pulled some strings out of my head!

「That hurtssss!! 」

He threw my hair strings to the shop owner.

「I give you that. 」

「Ohh! Thank you very much! 」

「Is my hair a gratuity!? And don’t “give” my hair so randomly like that!!」

I screamed extremely high. Yet, Seiya left the tool shop with an expressionless face as if nothing had happened, and walked away.

「Whe…Where are you going this time? 」

「I’m going to meet Serous Rousse. 」

「Eh! But, we don’t need her anymore, right? 」

「There’s something I want to ask her. Her technique was quite interesting. 」

「Do…Don’t tell me that you want to transform into a devil as well!? 」

「That would be impossible. But, I had some inspiration after you two were humiliated.」

Wha…What on earth did that mean…?

I was worried about his words. But, when I heard the name Serous Rousse, the trauma that I suffered due to the forced handstand came rushing to my head. I felt an unpleasant feeling when I remembered that I was upside down, and that she could make me do that again. Moreover, Seiya kept telling me 「Hey, Lista. Just for how long will you keep following me? 」. Therefore, I gave up and returned to Uno’s house.

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 *Hihirokane (ヒヒイロカネ) or translated as “Flame Steel”, is a mythological metal which is lighter than gold, harder than diamond and does not rust. It is said to be able to bring water to a boil without heat, violating the Law of Conservation of Energy. It is described in the apocryphal Takenouchi Document, an alleged ancient writing in a lost script which details Japan’s early history, where Hihirokane was used in the time of Emperor Jimmu, Japan’s first emperor.

**Durahans are humanoid monsters that are actually souls of powerful warriors living inside suits of armor. Durahans are based on Irish legends of the Dullahan, a headless knight who rides on a demonic horse.

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