“I didn’t expect to meet you here.”
After taking a closer look at the person, Rhode was taken aback. He heaved a sigh of relief because this beautiful young lady who was wrapped up in a black cloak and wore a large hat was none other than the planes merchant he once met in Highland City, Stefania. She sized up the young ladies behind him with curious gazes. After hearing Rhode’s words, Stefania shifted her gaze to him and revealed an amusing smile.
“Me too. I’m surprised to see you in the Ninth Floor of Hell, Your Majesty Rhode…”
“Where’s Emily?”
Rhode didn’t continue the conversation. Instead, he looked around Stefania quickly and didn’t spot the young lady with fiery red hair. Stefania also seemed to realize what was on his mind and revealed a sly smile.
“Oh, Emily isn’t here. No matter what, this is the Ninth Floor of Hell, after all. As a human, it isn’t convenient for her to stay here for long.” Stefania replied, winking playfully at him with an ‘you-know-it’ expression and Rhode understood what she meant.
“But come to think of it, what are you doing here?”
Even though plane merchants were known to roam about, Rhode couldn’t hold back his curiosity and asked. After all, this was the Ninth Floor of Hell, just like Stefania mentioned, where even merchants rarely dropped by because it wasn’t easy discussing business with demons. It was totally possible for a merchant to sacrifice his life if any mishaps were to happen. The merchants who came to do business with demons were either strong enough or stupid enough. Based on Rhode’s understanding of Stefania, she shouldn’t belong to the latter.
“Wherever there are adorable ladies, that is where I’ll be.”
Stefania answered with a smile, holding her palms together and directing her gaze at the young ladies behind Rhode.
“Actually there is nothing for me to hide. I will occasionally take a stroll in hell, just to see my luck in finding any adorable girls that demons happen to capture and are trafficking, and bring them back to my harem. But I didn’t manage to find anything good these two days as it seems like none of them are interesting to me. On the other hand, I’m so envious of you, Your Majesty Rhode. In the blink of an eye, you’re surrounded by so many beautiful and adorable young ladies. This makes me so jealous.”
“… Forget it, we’ll talk about this in future. Come to think of it, you said you can help us?”
Even though discussing this topic with a harem collector gave Rhode a sense of like-mindedness, he changed the topic decisively upon sensing the gaze of daggers on his back. It didn’t matter much since Stefania was a woman. But if he kept on talking about it, he didn’t know what the young ladies would do to him in the future. Of course, deep down in his heart, he somewhat ‘admired’ Stefania. She was actually willing to risk her life and come to the Ninth Floor of Hell just to expand her harem… this was true love, it seemed.
Anyway, he knew that he definitely wouldn’t take it as far as her. Of course, most importantly, if he had done so, perhaps he would have trouble arising within his harem. Maybe if he had time on some other days, he could discuss with this plane merchant about dominating the harem? Yes, this seemed like a decent choice.
“Of course, meeting an old friend in a foreign place is always delightful, isn’t it? Since you used to be my customer, I’m willing to give you a 15 percent discount. I heard from your conversation that you’re heading to the Rift Plain through the River Styx? That is an extremely dangerous route, especially to the boatmen. Yugoloths aren’t trustworthy at all. If you believe me, I can help to arrange your trip. Of course… it comes with a price.”
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.”
After pondering for a few seconds, Rhode nodded and accepted Stefania’s suggestion. Just like this half-demon-plane-merchant said, meeting an old friend in a foreign place was indeed delightful. Besides, in all fairness, Stefania was competent as a plane merchant. Rhode hadn’t forgotten about the broken rescue cabin he bought from her. Even though it was defective, he eventually succeeded in summoning Karin, one of the holy sword spirits. Without Karin, Rhode wouldn’t have created three magic warships in such a short period of time. Judging from this aspect, he was pretty grateful toward this plane merchant. Even though she was a half-demon, at least she was credible enough and didn’t have a criminal record of ‘cheating’. If she were any other demons in hell, perhaps it would turn out entirely different…
“Alright then, please come with me.”
As soon as they got into business, Stefania restored the standard smile of a merchant, before gesturing to Rhode politely. Rhode nodded in response and followed her. But at this moment, he suddenly came to a halt, narrowed his eyes, and swept glances to the surroundings. He paused his gaze at the shadowy corner inside one of the small alleys.
“What’s wrong, Leader?”
Upon realizing his strange behavior, Mini Bubble Gum followed his gaze curiously and asked.
“Nothing.”
Rhode looked away and answered plainly. Then, he continued to follow the plane merchant.
After Rhode’s group was out of sight, the shadowy figure hidden in the alley turned around and left sneakily. He ran down the alley, avoiding the demons’ surveillance and lurking in the dark corner beside the flowing sewage water. Up until this moment, he let out a long sigh, before pulling down his filthy hood to reveal a miserable, ice-cold, and scar-filled face that was full of vengeance, murderous intent, and tyranny. His long, bright golden hair had turned pale and yellowish. His suave face was covered in all sorts of scars. He clutched the cloak in his hands and shuttled down the dark alley like a fast-moving ghost as he arrived at a run-down, wooden house. He pushed the seemingly useless, tattered wooden door and entered.
Upon hearing the sound of the opening wooden door, a skinny young lady curled up on the floor lifted her head.
“… Andre?”
“Yes, it’s me, Cheryl.”
Upon hearing her voice, the twisted and furious expression on Andre’s face dwindled a little. He gazed at the young elf lady, his heart surging with strong sorrow and anger from the bottom. But at the next moment, the anger turned into a strange, dark smile.
“Are you alright, Andre?”
The young elf lady asked, her eyes remaining closed. Even though she didn’t witness his expression, her sharp senses as an elf made her detect an ominous aura exuding from Andre. After hearing her question, Andre let out a snort and said, “Have a guess, who do you think I saw?”
“Here…?”
“That’s right, I saw the Void Dragon! Hahaha! This is the best opportunity. I didn’t expect him to be here! Isn’t this our best opportunity, Cheryl?!”
“V-Void Dragon? You’re saying that he…”
The young elf lady shuddered upon hearing the name as though she just recalled the hounding of a nightmare. But shortly after, she had a bad feeling.
“Andre, what do you intend to do?”
“Isn’t that simple? I want revenge, Cheryl,” Andre said. His expression turned grim.
“I will never forget that day. Have you forgotten, Cheryl? The day he destroyed the entirety of Casabianca!”
To Andre, that was the eternal pain in his heart. He could never, ever forget the day the enormous magic warships descended from above, bombarded the city with golden rain, and submerged the city in a sea of flames. Even though he tried to rescue the civilians, he could only watch helplessly as they died in despair. At that moment, Andre almost went insane, but Cheryl was there to stop him and forcefully cast a teleportation spell on themselves, leading them far away from that terrifying place. But they didn’t expect the Hell’s Gate to be opened at the same time by Celestina, and they were sucked into the spatial crack. When they came about, they found themselves in hell.
That was a nightmarish experience to Andre and Cheryl. If the demons didn’t take a fancy to Andre’s swordsmanship and Cheryl’s magic spells, perhaps they would have turned them into their slaves by now. But even so, they had a rough time here. In the earlier battle against the devils, Cheryl’s eyes were hurt and lost vision. Andre searched for ways to treat her injuries in the Steel Fortress and was surprised to see Rhode there.
“Could you have mistaken someone for him…”
“No, Cheryl! I’m sure it is him!”
Clenching his fists, Andre spoke indignantly. Then, he revealed an odd smile.
“This is a good opportunity for us, don’t you think so? Cheryl?”
“You’re saying that…”
“The demons of hell will surely be interested in this man and those around him, so I can make a deal with the demons and get them to treat your eyes. Perhaps we can also reach an agreement to leave this damn place too!”
“Is this a smart choice, Andre?”
But after hearing his words, Cheryl was still hesitant. Before she said anything, she felt Andre’s hands holding her shoulders.
“Of course, Cheryl. So I need your help… you will help me, right?”
For some unknown reason, the young elf lady sensed a strong and inexplicable sense of uncertainty in his words.
