821 - New Year"s Extra Chapter : Six Kings" Executive Vacation ~ ~ Underworld King & Deat
A month-long vacation was given to the Six Kings’ executive subordinates. However, there were some camps whose lives didn’t change much from usual.
The first of them would be Underworld King Kuromueina’s family…… There was no such thing as executives in Underworld King’s camp, and they were all treated as family.
And since Kuromueina, the President of her company, insisted on taking regular breaks, even Ein takes a few days off on a regular basis.
The only people who are busy in the Underworld King’s camp are Zwei, who is in charge of the vast land on behalf of Kuromueina, and Sechs, who serves as an advisor to the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company.
As such, the life of those within the Underworld King’s camp had no particular change in this case, and they spent their New Year as usual.
[Vier, have you wished Kuromu-sama a Happy New Year yet?]
[Ahh, Sister Zwei. I’ve already finished doing that, and received my red envelope.]
(T/N: Otoshidama. New Year’s Money.)
[I see, then the only person who hasn’t finished their greeting……]
In the castle of Underworld King Kuromueina, a large New Year’s party is held every year, and on this day, many of the family members who have left the castle and were living elsewhere return to spend a lively time with every member of the family. It is also an annual tradition for Kuromueina to hand out New Year’s gifts to her family.
It’s not possible for all the family members to come together, but they all try to partic.i.p.ate in the New Year’s party as much as possible, which shows how popular Kuromueina is.
After answering Zwei’s question, Vier was enjoying the standing party and chatted happily with the family members she didn’t usually meet with. This was when she suddenly spotted a certain person and rushed over to her side.
[……Sister Tre! Long time no see! I didn’t know you’re already here.]
[Long time no see, Vier. I couldn’t attend last year because of my job at the Magic Tool Trading Company, so I came early this time. It would take me some time going from here to there after all.]
She didn’t have enough magic power to use Teleportation Magic on her own, so it would take her a long time to go home, Tre told her with a wry smile on her face.
Thereupon, Vier seemed to have noticed something, and looking around, she tilted her head.
[Eh? Sister Tre, was it just you who came back home? ……What about Cento and Cien?]
[Ahh, they seemed busy, so I snuck off……]
[That’s no good! You can’t leave your two guards behind…… They’re probably still looking for you right now!]
[Ahh, but I did leave them a note……]
Seeing Tre smiling like a child whose prank got found out, Vier’s shoulders slumped and she held her head in her hands.
[Haahhh…… Even though Sister Tre knows that your combat ability is as non-existent as ever…… The only thing you’re good at is slipping away and giving those two troubles.]
[Errr, thanks?]
[I’m not complimenting you…… What would you do if something happened?]
[Ahh~~…… But you see, I’m only going back home for a while……]
Although Tre was older than Vier, her combat ability or magic talent could be described as non-existent, and let alone acquiring a Peerage, she wasn’t even considered a High-ranking Demon.
However, she possessed a special ability that was extremely rare and useful. Thus, she is usually guarded by two Count-level, High-ranking Demons, Cento and Cien, for her safety.
However, she was good at taking advantage of openings, and with her rather optimistic nature, she often left her guards behind and slipped away like this.
Trying to suppress her headache for a while, Vier took a deep breath before shouting.
[……Sister Zweeeeeiiiiii! Sister Tre slipped out on her own again!]
[Wait!? Vier!?]
[Tre…… You……]
[Awawawa, S- Sis Zwei…… T- This is ummm……]
Immediately after a panicked expression appeared on Tre’s face, Zwei appeared before her with a vein popping out of her forehead. Needless to say, a stern scolding awaited her after that.
The Land of Death, located in the northern part of the Demon Realm…… and there, in the castle of Death King Isis, her executives, the Pleiades, had strange expressions on their faces.
[……Rasal, did I get it right?]
[I don’t know. I think I did exactly as what was said, but I’ve never personally seen it before.]
Hearing Sirius ask with her arms crossed, her head tilted to the side, Rasal responded with a light shake of her head.
[It indeed has a form a little unfamiliar to us. I think it’s best to ask the person who suggested it. What do you think, Eul? Did she get it right?]
Polaris, who was watching the exchange between the two of them, smiled and asked Eulpecula, the one who had suggested this matter, about it…… and after her ten tails swayed, Eulpecula replied with a confident look on her face.
[……I don’t know!]
[Oi.]
[No, I’ve never personally seen it either, and it was just something I’ve heard from Kaito-sama. I think you got it right though……]
[However, Eul? This…… “Kotatsu”, was it? In the end~~, what in the world is this? Isn’t it a little low for a table?]
Giggling upon hearing that Eulpecula, the one who suggested the idea, didn’t really understand it herself, Spica asked in a somewhat relaxed manner.
Yes, what they had before them was a kotatsu, an item from another world, created by Rasal based on a story Eulpecula had heard from Kaito.
[It’s apparently some kind of cold protection tool from another world, you know? Kaito-sama says that eating hotpot while sitting in this kotatsu is the best. Since Kaito-sama says so, then it must be true. And that’s why, this is an experiment. Let’s try it once, and if it’s good, let’s invite Kaito-sama.]
[I see~~]
[Well, I guess we’ll just have to try it out. Head-dono is in charge of cooking anyway, so we don’t have to worry about food. As for this kotatsu, we can try it out and fix it later if we have any complaints.]
After Polaris made her conclusion, she instructed the other executives of the Death King to set up the venue. This kind of spontaneous event wasn’t uncommon in the Death King’s camp, so everyone got used to it and preparations proceeded swiftly.
After a while, Eulpecula’s ears twitched and her ten tails wagged happily. The others seemed to have guessed who had arrived, and as they moved my gaze to the entrance of the room, their King, Isis, appeared.
[……Everyone…… I’m home.]
[ [ [ [ [ Welcome back, Isis-sama! ] ] ] ] ]
When Isis returned, everyone smiled and welcomed her return, and on behalf of the other subordinates, Polaris spoke to Isis.
[Isis-sama, how was the meeting with the Six Kings?]
[……Unnn…… It was fun…… Also…… Kuromueina suggested…… that we give all of the executives…… a month-long vacation.]
[A long vacation……?]
[……Unnn…… In our case…… it would be…… everyone of Pleiades?]
Hearing Isis’ words, the members of Pleiades, with the exception of the absent Iris, looked at each other and tilted their heads. When Isis explained the details of what had happened, each of them spoke with a somewhat delicate look on their faces.
[……I see, I understand now. However…… I don’t really think that has much to do with us.]
[We’re basically resting as we please after all.]
As Polaris and Rasal said this, the other three nodded and spoke their own thoughts.
[We also weren’t doing anything that could be called a job.]
[Even if we have this vacation, I have a feeling it’s going to be just like usual.]
[That’s right~~ Besides, even if we’re Isis-sama’s executives in the eyes of the world~~ That doesn’t really feel the case at all.]
Sirius, Eulpecula, and Spica also held the same thoughts…… Rather, the Death King camp was somewhat unique. Death King Isis currently had 48 subordinates under her lead…… and although their numbers were the smallest among the Six Kings’ camps, their camp was a special one as all of its members were Peerage-holding, High-ranking Demons, and all of them have volunteered to be subordinates rather than being recruited by Isis.
And one common characteristic between all of Isis’ subordinates was that all of them were very close to each other, and they weren’t interested in fame or status.
Iris, the Head Subordinate, was the type of person who cared about the external appearance of the group, and although they had established the Pleiades as Death King’s executive subordinates, it was mostly just a formality, and a hierarchy didn’t exist within Death King’s subordinates.
Their camp was close to Underworld King’s camp by nature, and they are more like family and friends than subordinates. On top of that, the Death King’s camp doesn’t have that much work to do in the first place.
Thus, if they were to be asked if they need a long vacation…… They would only say that they don’t.
Isis herself understood this, so after giving a somewhat amused chuckle, she nodded.
[……I guess you’re right…… that really…… isn’t related to us, right? ……Then…… I guess we’ll be…… just like usual.]
[ [ [ [ [ Yes! ] ] ] ] ]
[……Speaking of which…… what are you…… doing today?]
After nodding in satisfaction, Isis looked around and seeing the setup of the venue, she tilted her head.
[This time, we’re planning to recreate the kotatsu of Kaito-sama’s world and have a nabe party…… but even though I’m embarra.s.sed to say this, we’ve never seen this kotatsu before, so we were just discussing if the kotatsu was done right.]
Basically, all of Death King’s subordinates get along well with each other, so it’s no surprise that they all partic.i.p.ate in such spontaneous events. This time, those who are good at cooking are helping Iris, while the rest are preparing the venue…… Without bothering to a.s.sign roles, they voluntarily split up to do work on their own.
[……It’s alright…… I think you got it right…… If I remember correctly…… aside from the normal ones…… there are also those…… horigotatsu types?]
[As expected of Isis-sama, are you well acquainted with such things?]
[……If I’m not mistaken…… I should have…… a book about otherworld tools……]
(T/N: kotatsu are those shown in anime. horigotatsu are like kotatsu, but with a hole on the floor for people to stretch out their legs.)
After muttering this, Isis lightly waved her hand and teleported a book from her castle’s book storage room…… large enough to be called a great library.
[……It was…… described here.]
[I see, fumu…… This is quite detailed. Considering our daily life, I think we could get more accustomed to this horigotatsu instead. Next time, I’ll try to make that one too.]
At the same time that Rasal looked impressed with Isis’ almost complete memory of the contents of the tremendous number of books she possessed, Iris and the rest of the cooking crew came into the room.
[We’ve finished preparing.]
[Ahh, Head-dono. We’ve also finished setting things up here to some extent. It seems that everything is in order. Our King has just returned, so the timing is just perfect.]
After hearing Polaris’ words, Iris nodded once, slightly bowed to Isis, and then instructed the other subordinates to place the stove-like magic tools and pots on the several kotatsus that were prepared.
Thereupon, each of them took a seat and the spontaneous nabe party began.
[Hmmm…… Using these chopsticks is difficult. I’ll use a spoon.]
[Is that so? I don’t think it’s that difficult when you get used to it though.]
[It’s because Eul is very skillful.]
In contrast to Spica, who struggled with the chopsticks that she was unfamiliar with, Eulpecula was able to use them easily even when she was using them for the first time, and dexterously took her share into her plate.
[Ahh, Sirius. Be careful when you use that condiment. It’s a little spicy.]
[Unnn? Is that so…… It shouldn’t be a problem if I put in just a bit……]
Hearing Iris’ words, Sirius seemed to be thinking of something. Probably because she was an Insectoid, she had a sweet tooth, and was somewhat uncomfortable with spicy flavors.
However, if the spiciness wasn’t that extreme, she could enjoy a certain amount of spiciness to accentuate the taste……
[How about we give it a bit of a taste? I have a little bit of that condiment on my plate anyway.]
[Ahh, I’m sorry…… Fumu, if it’s just this much, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll put some on mine too.]
Rasal and Sirius usually fought a lot, but it didn’t mean that they didn’t get along. Rather, the more they quarrel, the more they got along. One can see how well they get along in their little exchanges like this.
Well, rather than just them…… all of Death King’s subordinates get along well enough that they’re conducting boisterous nabe parties like this.
[Hmmm, it feels strange, but this kotatsu isn’t so bad.]
[Ahh, I heard from Alice that it’s customary to eat mikan…… orange-like fruits while under the kotatsu. I’ll try it out next time.]
Everyone seemed to be having a good time, and although there were separate tables, people were freely moving around with their plates in their hands, enjoying conversation with each other.
Perhaps, because of their King’s temperament, the Death King’s camp is one of the best among the Six Kings’ camps in terms of closeness of its subordinates. And today, the castle built in the cold Land of Death was filled with warm laughter.
Underworld King’s Subordinates
As usual, they’re having a New Year’s party with everyone. As one can imagine though, their camp has so many people that not all of them can get together.
【Tre】
She is one of the oldest members of Kuromeuina’s family, but she possessed no combat skills. About the same level as Kaito-kun…… However, she has the extremely rare ability to “change the purity of the magic crystal by pouring her own magic power into it”.
It is thanks to her that Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company is able to create magic tools that require magic crystals of over 90% purity, which are rarely found in nature.
Her name comes from the Italian number <3>. (The reason her name is based on the German numerals like Ein or Zwei is because Alice told Kuro that Drei is a lame name.)
【Cento and Cien】
Cento and Cien are Tre’s bodyguards, but are often troubled because Tre slips away from them. Both of them have the ability of a Count-rank. Their names come from the Italian and Spanish numerals for <100>.
Death King’s Subordinates
These guys are basically just a group of good friends who love Isis. Whenever someone comes up with a spontaneous plan, even without being invited, everyone would gather, and before they knew it, everyone was partic.i.p.ating in a boisterous gathering.
Within that castle filled with smiles, the smile in Isis’ lips also didn’t disappear.