As A Result of Trying To Live An Erotic Slow-Life, I Have Become The Underground Ruler of This Upside-Down Otherworld - Chapter 79: Homecoming and Foothold

Chapter 79: Homecoming and Foothold

“Been a while.”

It hasn’t been that long since I started the shop in the capital, but it feels like it.

Adelina.

A city among the kingdom’s urban hubs, home to my benefactor. For Ririeru, it’s where her mother lives.

Yeah, I came back to see Master.

“Arius-sama.”

“Hm, thanks, Serika. I’ll go alone from here. Here, for your stay.”

I couldn’t do this alone, so Serika came along.

As expected, the journey was smooth. Some weird beautiful women tried hitting on me, but Serika’s glare sent them scurrying back—pretty amusing.

I place five silver coins in Serika’s hesitant palm. Enough for a month’s stay unless she splurges.

“…Don’t worry. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

“U-Uh…”

I know she wants to come along, deep down.

Honestly, I want her with me too.

But it’s gotta be just me.

“B-But!”

“Serika.”

“Ugh… Yes. I’ll wait for your call.”

Shoulders slumped, trudging.

I watch her back as she goes.

I know I’m doing something bad.

Hurting someone I don’t want to hurt—it’s obvious.

Especially Serika, who’s all about being useful to me.

But, sorry.

This is something I’ve gotta face alone.

“Now, then.”

In the end.

It’s not that I didn’t notice—I started pretending not to see, right here.

Master’s introduction brought Towa as my caretaker, handed me Ronnyan.

While I was running that shop, people thought I was underworld? Ridiculous.

Sure, from the outside, it might’ve looked like I was building a Family.

Maybe that’s why Rozaria messed with me, trying to pull me in before I got too strong.

But I never meant to pick a fight with anyone.

“Well, I might’ve toed the line a bit.”

Buying Serika? With Nelba, I’d like to think it was just negotiation.

Yeah, I haven’t formed an Arius Family yet.

Even if that was seen as picking a fight, it should be my personal issue.

When did my actions start being seen as a group’s?

I came here for answers.

“…You, Arius…?”

“Yes. Long time no see, Master… No.”

My old workplace, Ron.

And…

“Boss.”

“—I see, huh.”

The place where the strongest sense of unease hit me.

“Been a while since I ate your meat dishes. Let’s have a talk after that.”

“Sure, gladly. I’ve improved a bit, so look forward to it.”

※

The food I made went down well, vanishing into Master’s stomach at breakneck speed.

—Not just manning up, that’s what’s great.

This guy’s not a woman—seriously a badass man.

Thinking that, I calm my racing heart.

“So, Arius… Not just a quick homecoming, huh?”

“Yes.”

I’m happy she calls it a homecoming.

I’m almost shocked I don’t feel out of place with the word.

Master didn’t deny the “Boss” title.

It was a test, but I figured it was true.

“I want to know why Master… made a Family.”

Ronnyan’s location, Master’s subordinate… Right, Towa.

Her acquaintance, Mia, holds major power in the capital.

Yeah, exactly.

It’s not hard to notice the oddity with a little thought.

Saying I was too busy with my own stuff is an excuse—I instinctively avoided it.

“I’ve seen a lot in the capital. Things you’d call obvious surprised me. But there’s just one thing I just can’t figure out.”

“Can’t figure out?”

“Yes. They say Families are formed by ugly women banding together. But Master, you’re beautiful in this world. You’ve got power without needing a Family. So why make one and live in the underworld?”

“…”

Among all the weird things I noticed…

Connecting ideas smoothed out the oddities.

But this one thing didn’t connect to anything.

“I’m sad, Arius. No, maybe I should hate the world for tainting you, I don’t know.”

“—What do you mean?”

Tainted?

No, I’m doing this to avoid being tainted.

“Remember what you told me?”

“What I told you… Which one?”

“That you hate seeing ugly women look sad. That’s why I made a Family.”

Seriously?

Yeah, I… Of course I remember.

It was the most convenient, prettiest excuse.

“…”

“Don’t believe it? That’s why I said tainted. Yeah, I’m beautiful. I could get most things without a Family. That’s why I hated it, so I made one. Under me, everyone could live equal.”

Equal… Not like Rozaria’s world-flipping, but a place where everyone’s on the same level.

“But it failed, I guess. Ability’s unequal from the start. Some smiled, others kept looking up like they’d always lived on top. The more power we got, the more people, the further it got from the equality I aimed for.”

Perfect equality? You won’t find it anywhere. Making it’s even harder.

If everyone were robots, maybe, but that’s not the point.

“And those rules only worked in the Family. Outside, the world’s rules apply. So I set the stage. Hoping someone might build the world I dreamed of.”

“Wait. You’re not saying that’s me, right?”

“Ain’t it?”

“—!”

Ugh, this is why Master’s tough.

She’s the one who shaped me. Of course, I’ll never beat her, I know that.

Don’t look at me so straight like that.

“I fell for your words, Arius. Hating sad faces on ugly women? Unbelievable, maybe, but no one has the guts to say it but you. It’s obvious—sad faces are their normal ones, that’s how it is.”

“That’s—!!”

“That’s not all. You always looked at ugly women, not beauties. Any guy’d fall for a woman who calls them, but you kept eyeing the ugly ones around, looking sorry.”

No, no, Master.

It’s because my sensibilities are a glitch in this world.

A stunning woman looks like a puker to me, so I just thought they weren’t calling.

“I don’t know the details. Even if you’re some freak who’s into ugly women, that face ain’t fake. You could’ve played beauties, used them, and still you surrounded yourself with ugly women.”

“That’s…!”

“Don’t underestimate me, Arius…! I’m the one who raised you! I gave you every means and chance! I didn’t raise a fool who can’t see that!”

Ouch, damn…

Nothing hits harder than a parent’s lecture.

“…Master.”

“Yeah?”

“That’s why Ririeru turned out such a pushover.”

“Gahaha! My bad! Dotin’ mother, y’know!”

I’m such a pushover because of this guy, no doubt.

“I can’t make an equal world.”

“Figured.”

“I might waste all the groundwork you laid.”

“Oh? Pickin’ a fight?”

I’m no savior.

I can’t change the world or save every ugly woman.

No way I could even think that big.

“But… I might make a happy place.”

“That’s about all you can do, huh?”

Is that okay? It’s a thorny path, I know.

Even Master, with way bigger caliber than me, only managed to do some groundwork.

Just self-satisfaction, that’s the only thing I can do, making a world where I can shut myself away.

No.

“Master.”

“What?”

“I need ten gold coins. Can you hook me up with a woman willing to buy me?”

“Easy job. Wanna sell to me instead?”

I want to build it.

I see it now, clearly.

What I want to do, the shape I’m aiming for.

“Stop with the jokes. Hugging my parent? That’s unfilial, no thanks.”

“Gahaha! It would be bad for Ririeru too! What a shame, I’ll hope for the next life.”