Vol 3 Chapter 51 – The Forbidden Things

“Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

“I do not.”

“What you have done is absolutely unforgivable. Do you understand that?”

“I have no words to offer.”

Aroma let out a heavy sigh at those words, which lacked even a shred of sincerity despite being delivered with a completely straight face.

It was true that she had been harsh on the man before her. But all of that was for Chris’s sake, and by extension, for the sake of Diabolo. She was by no means acting purely out of a personal grudge.

That being said, it was obvious what kind of impression this man would hold regarding her treatment of him. It was only natural that he would resent her, and she had absolutely no intention of making excuses for it.

Even so, this was crossing a line.

“In our territory, gambling is strictly forbidden outside of state-run establishments. By all rights, you should hang for this.”

“It’s all poverty’s fault. I just wanted to eat some white rice, I…”

“Don’t make excuses. Not after you just said you had nothing to say in your defense.”

“Understood. If what I have done is a sin, I shall accept my punishment willingly.”

The man spoke while maintaining his prostrating posture on the floor. He was undoubtedly saying this fully aware that she couldn’t actually punish him.

“But please, I beg of you! Spare their lives! Please, just spare the lives of Maou-sama, El-chan, Garon-san, Puria-san, and the other one hundred and twenty-four people!”

This is the problem.

Lured in by this idiot, the girls under my care—with our foolish monarch at the very front—have picked up a bad habit.

Chris. Your charisma and your wisdom are completely disproportionate, you know. Why do you always bring me such troublesome things? This isn’t like when you wagered him the other day. Didn’t I tell you not to engage in betting involving money? Didn’t I teach you that gambling is something only delinquents do? The collapse of a nation begins in places exactly like that, you know. Why did you do it?

El-chan. You are still young, but even so, you should be able to tell right from wrong. A simple spanking isn’t going to cut it this time.

Garon. I am never giving you money ever again. From now on, I will be managing your entire salary issued by us. And I’ll be reporting exactly how much you spend and on what to your family, too.

Puria. I will mount your head on a pike. You actually conspired with Nine to do this, so you are completely out of the question.

Why it had come to this was not particularly important.

Simply put, just as he confessed, it seemed to be a crime driven by a desire for food money.

It was true that his salary was at the absolute bottom tier, but even so, factoring in his preparation allowance, he should have been given enough so as not to starve. Well, whatever.

I repeat: why it had come to this was not important.

It wasn’t important, but it was necessary to sort out the problem so that this kind of thing wouldn’t happen again in the future.

To begin with, this issue came to light because our demons were having their money swindled by this guy.

The first sign of discomfort arose when Garon—who was a hearty eater, or rather, calling her that is too polite, so I have to say it like this: a glutton—started looking strangely famished.

Despite her lineage, she prioritized quantity over quality when it came to food, unbefitting of a girl from a good family, but I had never heard of her struggling financially.

Finding it suspicious, I pressed her for answers.

“It’s nothing.”

That was all she would repeat.

However, as she was leaving, I heard her whisper to herself.

“If only I’d stopped there. Up until then, it was going so well…”

That was what I remembered her muttering.

Next was El-chan.

Lately, every time she moved around, she would use Nine as a horse. Since it was far too improper, I scolded her, and she gave me this reply.

“Winner’s privileeege.”

Aside from that, during the winter—a time when it’s bothersome to go outside and entertainment is scarce—the other demons started to look strangely restless, especially when they saw me.

“Crap, hide it, hide it.”

When they started making gestures like that, I finally felt that something was genuinely wrong. And then, Chris delivered the decisive blow.

When she came into my office looking incredibly depressed, I reflexively called out to her.

“What’s the matter, Maou-sama? Is something troubling you?”

“N-Nhm. The truth is, I have a little something I’d like to consult with you about.”

“What’s with the inarticulate mumbling? You can tell your Aroma anything, you know.”

“A…lowance?”

It was too quiet, I couldn’t hear her. It wasn’t like she was Selphi. She should just speak more clearly.

When I said that, she finally spoke up.

“You won’t get mad?”

“I won’t get mad. What is there to be mad about? You are the Maou, aren’t you?”

“I see. You’re right. Yeah. What was I hesitating for?”

With a radiant expression, a face that had completely cut away all hesitation, Chris continued.

“Aroma, give me an allowance.”

Our supposed Maou.

Begging for money from one of her vassals.

I cried.

I cried, smacked Chris over the head, and dragged her to her room without letting her utter a single word of complaint.

“Y-You said you wouldn’t get mad! You said you wouldn’t get mad, and yet!”

“There are limits to everything. And there are lies in this world. Remember that.”

“Y-You’re just the same as that mountain monkey! Are you going to deceive me too, Aroma?!”

Excuse me?

The same as that human.

The same?

Me?

I turned around.

“Eek.”

Having finally realized her mistake, Chris let out a strained noise before being dragged all the way to her room by me.

In her room, she stored valuable pottery, furniture, tea sets, jewels, and various other items that could be converted into funds in the event of an emergency. It was separate from the national treasury, of course, but the safe here should have contained more than enough assets and funds in addition to the items I just listed.

Leaving behind the girl who was flailing in a panic, despite my expression barely changing, I opened the door to her room.

There was nothing.

The canopy bed, the carpet, the chandelier, the interior decorations, the vanity mirror—they were all gone.

All that was left in the room—which had a window offering a sweeping view of the spacious Diabolo territory—was a low dining table sitting in the middle of nowhere, a wooden carving of a bear biting a salmon, and Chris’s favorite stuffed animal.

That was it.

That was truly all there was.

“Chris.”

“What is it?”

“Sit down.”

“Yes.”

After replying, she sat down at the low table, and I kicked her flying.

“That hurts, you know.”

“Seiza.”

“Yes.”

Only her expression remained resolute, but she anxiously stroked the wooden bear carving for comfort.

“Chris.”

“Yes.”

“Explain.”

“Yes.”

Chris’s excuses are long.

Long enough to be fitting of her alias, “Infinite.” We’ve known each other for a long time, so I know this.

Having to kick her to put her back on track every time her story derails is also, well, fine.

However, this situation—which couldn’t even be called a laughing matter—had escalated far too much.

It seemed it initially started from the penalty Maou-sama gave to that human.

“Lick my legs. Every time your demerits exceed ten, you shall renew your loyalty to me.”

“Yes, with pleasure.”

After having him lick her legs all over… Or rather, because an indescribable, tingling sensation swelled up in her lower abdomen every time that human ran his tongue between her toes, she forcefully made him stop. I strictly warned Maou-sama never to let him do that again.

“Of course, I won’t let you off with just this. Let’s see… you should perform some parlor trick to amuse me. Since this is your first punishment, this much should suffice. Naturally, know that if it is something worthless, your head will not remain attached.”

“Then, rock-paper-scissors.”

“A fine resolve. Go ahead and die.”

“Wait, wait, please wait a second! Ten consecutive wins! Maou-sama, I will prove that I can beat you ten times in a row. How about a game like that?”

“Interesting. In that case, I will have you wager a finger for every round. You presented such a condition to me, so surely you possess that level of resolve.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Very well. Then, in honor of that resolve, even though this is a penalty, I will grant you a reward if you succeed. You may ask for a single thing of your choosing.”

“Thank you very much! In that case, I would like to receive one item from this room!”

“Hehe, you truly don’t know your place. Every item in here is a masterpiece that someone of your ilk could never hope to obtain. And I won’t be leaving you any fingers to grab it with anyway.”

“And then?”

“I lost every single time. I was so surprised.”

“This is no time to be surprised! Why do you always get so carried away?! It was supposed to be a penalty in the first place, so why did it turn into a situation where you lose something?!”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true. Why could that be?”

“Because you got carried away! I’ll say it again: Because! You! Got! Carried away! You idiot!”

“Isn’t that going a bit too far? Even I get angry when the time calls for it.”

“Listen here, Kuri-bou. You better knock it off. Do you even know who you’re pissing off by running your mouth like that?”

“Y-You’re scary, Aroma. That tone is cheating. Besides, it’s embarrassing, so I said I won’t do it again.”

“Huh?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

“So? Even if you had something taken, wasn’t it supposed to be just one item?”

“He demanded me.”

“Huh?”

“Like I said, he demanded me. Obviously, I refused.”

“Obviously! Of course you did! What the hell is he thinking?!”

“You’re right. That’s only natural. It’s normal to get angry. I wonder why. Why didn’t I just strike him down for his insolence back then?”

“Exactly. If he spouted something like that, you should have just killed him.”

It would have saved me so much trouble, too.

“The thing is, I was angry, but for some reason, the thought of doing that just didn’t cross my mind. It’s just… Ah, this is no good. Aroma, can I cool my head for a bit?”

“Maou-sama, we aren’t done talking.”

“I’m getting incredibly pissed off. A mere mountain monkey saying something like that, to me. Why did I leave him alive?”

Muttering a single “I don’t know,” she gave me an instruction.

“Give me about an hour and come back. I’ll calm down and try to sort things out.”

Leaving those words behind, Maou-sama kicked me out of the room that now only contained a low table and an ornament.

“Calming down, my foot.”

You got absolutely everything in your room swindled away in a gamble.

Your timing for cooling your head is way too late.

That being said, if she would calm down and explain the situation to me, giving her a little time wasn’t a bad idea.

In the meantime, I tried asking El-chan about it, but for some reason, El-chan had won overall and hadn’t really lost anything. Or rather, it seemed this girl hadn’t wagered anything of significance.

Regardless, I figured I would mete out punishments after hearing the full story from everyone involved.

I recalled the words she said before leaving the room.

“Hey, Aroma. He’s really interesting after all, isn’t he?”

It’s not a matter of being interesting or not. Above all, it isn’t interesting to me.

“Onee-chan was wondering why she couldn’t win, wasn’t she?”

More so, she was wondering why she hadn’t gotten angry.

“Ufu. In that case, Onee-chan, and Aroma, too, you really have to think about it for yourselves. Because…”

“By repeating questions and answers, you can inch closer to the truth.”

The way El-chan smugly prattled on about that rubbed me the wrong way.

Going to Maou-sama’s room an hour later as promised, I found Chris sitting at the low table again, so I made her sit in seiza.

It seemed she had finally managed to sort out her feelings, and she continued the story matter-of-factly.

That being said, even though it was incredibly stupid, it was still a long, dragging story.

She said it all kicked off with her bed being taken instead of her own person. Furthermore, it seemed that decision was reached after a reverse-sliding negotiation: Maou-sama herself, the underwear she was wearing, the stuffed animal she usually used as a body pillow, and finally the bed.

Is she an idiot? Seriously, is she an idiot?

This doesn’t even qualify as a yakuza tactic.

Well, leaving that aside, Maou-sama, unable to back down, frequently engaged in bets under the same conditions after that, and every time she did, the number of items in her room decreased.

Next, El-chan, who happened to stumble upon the scene, mimicked her. Because El-chan easily beat him, the blood rushed to Maou-sama’s head even more.

Garon, hearing the story from El-chan, joined the fray. Just like Maou-sama (even though Garon’s personality isn’t suited for gambling in the first place), she got hooked. They ended up playing card games and the like in addition to rock-paper-scissors, and her losses piled up to the point where he was mooching her dinners off her.

In the end, teaming up with Puria who caught wind of this, Nine and the others acted as the bookmakers. They went beyond rock-paper-scissors and simple games, and actually started running a gambling parlor.

“See? I’m not the bad guy here, am I?”

“With what mouth are you saying that?!”

“It’s all his fault. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Chris said, attempting to stand up.

“Who told you that you could break your posture?”

“M-My legs are completely numb. I can’t take this anymore.”

“You can’t. What wonderful words to hear. As long as you can still say that, it means you’re still perfectly fine. Ah, and no cheating with magic, either.”

“Aroma, you’re a demon.”

“Silence.”

“Telling me to be silent?! Do you know who I am?!”

“No one bows to an emperor with no clothes. You penniless beggar!”

“T-That’s mean! That’s so mean! Mar-chin, you idiot!”

“You’re the mean one, Kuri-bou! What is this?! You know I’m busy, yet you keep bringing me such incredibly troublesome problems! Don’t you realize that if you’re the one leading the charge in this idiocy, you’re setting a terrible example for your subordinates?!”

“Grrr.”

“If we end up punishing that human over this, news of your stupidity might leak not just across Agusta, but to the entire world! We are technically a nation governed by law! If, heaven forbid, the military attachés from ‘Shaitan’ or ‘Veda’ found out, we wouldn’t just be a laughingstock!”

“Y-Your voice is loud. We might get found out because of how loud you’re yelling.”

“You’re! The one! Making me! Yell!”

Hah, hah, hah.

Phew.

Alright, I’ve calmed down.

“Anyway. I’ll go retrieve everything that human swindled from you. Maou-sama, swear to me right here and now that you will never do something like this again.”

“Are you telling me that a Maou should remain defeated by a mere slave, Aroma? This is a matter of my pride as a—”

“Let the dogs eat your stupid pride!”

“Hauu.”

“I will question the others involved in this incident as well. We are going to make sure a scandal like this never happens again. Do you understand?”

“……”

“Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Besides, there’s no such thing as defeat over something this trivial. It’s because you let an inferiority complex get planted in you over something so weird that you couldn’t even get angry when he demanded your body.”

“Ngh, I guess it probably is exactly like that.”

“What is it? You’re mumbling again.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

Christela tilted her head.

Why did she… to a human whose life she could take with a single flick of her finger. She didn’t want to admit it, but why had she ended up acting so submissively back then?

She shouldn’t even be on equal footing with him in the first place.

She shouldn’t have been this foolish.

It was true that she had an attachment to it.

She had to admit that much.

But even so, for her—for Christela—to be unable to resist someone. That had never happened before, save for her parents and Aroma.

Even if she lost a bet, threatening to cut his head off should have been the end of the story.

Why was that?

――――――――――

–I suppose this is finally about ten percent.–

–You could say it’s going smoothly, but.–

–Nine. You’re far from the safety zone. One minor slip-up, and your life will easily be snuffed out.–

–Do it a little better next time.–