Hell Inn: Rebirth - I Became a Chef in Hell

Chapter 104 Strangers

The black dragon, its body entirely stained with ink, was imposing and terrifying, suddenly appearing like a wound in the sky falling into hell.

He appeared suddenly, a magnificent sight—but seemed to have lost all life, lying lifelessly around the inn, his form disappearing without a trace.

The dragon's scales rose and fell with its rapid, painful breaths, and metallic light flashed across its dark scales like fleeting shadows.

The crimson light of the arrogant ring stained the enormous, pulsating fins of the dragon's body like fresh blood.

The pitch-black Eastern dragon that burst forth from the flesh and blood of the ■■■ has now occupied the entire hilltop where the Hell Inn is located.

With each movement of His mountain-like body, there were crackling sounds of bones breaking and reforming, and the twitching of muscles.

The sounds made by the Eastern dragon, even just by listening, were enough to make one's heart pound.

"...I think no matter what, Shirley, I need an explanation from you."

Lucifer, who had erected a golden circular shield around himself and his daughter amidst the slowly moving behemoth, didn't even know what expression to wear in the face of all this.

He needs to sort out what just happened.

His daughter had told him long ago that she had picked up a stranger from under a bridge who didn't seem like someone from hell and brought him back to the inn.

It seems to be in cahoots with that annoying red-haired bastard, but he's slightly more likable than him.

There are many profound truths, like those of some angels who liked to nag him before he fell into hell, but they are more straightforward and easier to understand than what they say.

They blocked the enemy's attack with incredible speed, but they seemed to have not expected the enemy to have seawater mixed with holy water inside—

And then there's the current situation.

Lucifer felt that this guy, in his current form, was more suited to help those guys in Heaven destroy humanity than the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

"...This will probably be a very complicated story, but before that..."

With a somewhat strange expression, Shirley awkwardly brushed her bangs aside. She tried to put on a comforting smile, but it looked worse than a grimace.

As for why she knew her smile looked awkward, it was mainly because her father started staring at her with a concerned and worried expression.

"Oh my god! Shirley!!"

Shirley's attempt to explain to Lucifer was interrupted by a hurried and worried shout.

A white-haired female demon with an anxious expression suddenly stopped beside the blonde woman, as if she had taken a long detour.

She first checked her lover from head to toe to make sure he wasn't hurt, and then she hugged him with the joy of a long-awaited reunion.

"Thank goodness you're alright... If anything had happened to you, I really don't know what I would have done..."

Vicky, who still seemed shaken, even ignored Lucifer standing next to Shirley.

"Hmph! What a joke!"

"With me protecting her, how could anything happen to her?"

Perhaps because his strength was being questioned, the somewhat childish Lucifer fell from mid-air in dissatisfaction, and then snapped his fingers triumphantly.

The golden protective shield that had been surrounding them immediately enveloped Vicky as well.

“Uh, Lucifer… Your Highness, actually…”

"Be careful!!"

"What are you being careful of? I'm... what the!?"

Lucifer didn't seem to realize what Shirley was worried about until his golden protective shield was crushed by the dragon's body like fragile glass.

The petite fallen angel, unable to believe that her power could be so easily shattered, widened her eyes in disbelief. Then, in a comical manner, she was quickly carried away from the spot by her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend, who were holding her arms.

The giant dragon had completely filled the entire mountaintop, and it took the two female demons a great deal of effort to find a suitable open space for the foolish King of Hell to settle down.

"Uh, Dad... the existence of ■■■... is possible..."

Trying to explain to her father, the King of Hell, that she was no ordinary sinner, Shirley frantically gestured in the air.

"It might not be as simple as you think."

Vicky chimed in fluently from the side.

"Ah...right! ■■■Actually it's...!"

"We're strangers from different systems, aren't we? I can hardly remember the last time I saw such an example. I never thought something like this would actually happen... Ahem, anyway, you mean we can't treat her like any other person, right?"

Lucifer glanced at the colossal beast beside him, whose body was only partially visible, and with a mixture of surprise and strange excitement, brushed off non-existent dust from his body.

"What was her name again? □□□?"

Shirley: "..."

Vicky: "..."

“...Dad, it’s ■■■.”

Xia Li's expression shifted slightly for a moment, wondering how her father had pronounced that already strange name in such a similar way.

"Ah, right! You must have noticed that she's quite different from all the other guys in this lousy place, right?"

Lucifer, leaning on his apple cane, asked his daughter with great interest.

He didn't seem to care much about what would happen to him, nor did he seem to care that his protective shield was easily torn apart by the other party.

...Perhaps the King of Hell, who now seems a bit eccentric, is more like a child who recognizes words.

“I… know, but ■■■ is a very easy person to get along with, I…”

After hearing Lucifer point this out, Shirley clearly wanted to say something.

But in the end, just like her reaction when she saw ■■■ transform into a dragon, she was unable to utter a single word.

—It seems that every time she encounters something related to her past, the blonde woman falls into this state of hesitation and indecision.

"...So, Your Highness Lucifer, do you know the origin of ■■■?"

Perhaps because the King of Hell's words exuded confidence and composure, Vicky, intelligent and perceptive, glanced worriedly at the motionless dragon beside her.

She was very worried that becoming this way would hurt other demons, even though she wasn't like that.

But she was also worried... perhaps they should be most worried about themselves right now.

"She's not from the same world, or even the same system, as us, so of course she'll look different from us!"

Lucifer, who always spoke with an air of superiority, widened his eyes and said this in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But maybe I should still think of a way to get her..."

He solemnly supported his chin with his hand.

"...Hey! What the hell is going on over there!?"

Just then, Angel, who had shouted several swear words, suddenly poked his head out from the other side of the dragon.

"Isn't this just fucking ***?! What happened to her?! What's wrong with her?! What happened?!"

The Spider Sinner's voice sounded somewhat broken.

Before Shirley could even utter a word of comfort, she saw Angel, who had poked his little head out, being thrown over from the other side by the familiar big cat sinner.

"...God! Are you trying to kill me?!"

Despite grumbling and cursing, Angel landed on the ground in a light and graceful manner.

"You can still talk, can't you?"

Hesk, who had silently tossed Pantheon over again, flew over from the other side with a less-than-attractive face and carrying little Nefertti.

"So, now, can our little princess from Hell, who is closest to the inn's chef, tell us what this... uh, creature is all about? What is its relationship with the inn's chef?"

The giant cat sinner, who had fallen to the ground, frowned and glanced at the enormous creature beside him.

"Can't you see that this is actually a [illegible]? Good heavens, you're as blind as a bat!"

Seeing Hesker's slow reaction, Angel, who had his upper arms outstretched speechlessly and his lower arms crossed over his chest, glared at him.

……

A brief but meaningful silence.

"...What the hell!? Who are you saying this thing is...!?"

"..."

"Oh... fuck."

Because he had been so focused on getting the demons to dodge this behemoth, which was clearly more dangerous than the debt-collecting sharks, Hesk only now realized that the enormous creature's body was exactly the same as the tail of the [unidentified creature].

"What? You mean this giant monster in front of us is the chef in disguise!?"

Pantheon, who had just lost his footing and fallen flat on his face, scrambled to his feet in shock and said this.

Clearly, the serpentine sinner, sharing Hesker's sentiments, stared wide-eyed in disbelief, his expression one of shock.

"Oh—it's so big!"

Right now, it seems only Neilette, who appears completely oblivious to the situation, is happy.

Before she could rush toward “■■■ (questionable)” like a small cannonball, Pantheon silently grabbed the little guy’s slender waist.

"So what does this mean? Is she angry or something?"

Perhaps because ■■■ always appears very reliable, the big cat, seemingly unaware of the seriousness of the situation, immediately waved its paw impatiently after its initial surprise.

"Isn't she being a little too willful?"

"Are you stupid or what? How could you possibly get angry in this way? She's not that kind of demon at all!"

Angel, determined to uphold the reputation of his inn's chef, immediately drew a huge and exaggerated semicircle in the air with his hand while angrily refuting Hesker's statement.

"Oh, so you know her very well. Then tell me why she acts this way?"

Hesker, who didn't care much about Angel's insults, rolled his eyes.

"..."

"You fucking..."

Angel, who seemed genuinely angry, frowned and clenched his fists.

"Because she lost control."

Seeing that the two demons in front of her were still not calming down at the crucial moment, Vicki, rubbing her temples, interrupted the spider sinner who looked like he was about to argue with Hesker, and said in a reliable, deep voice from the side.

"But I believe she wouldn't want to see the two of you like this."

The female demon, arms crossed, glanced at the two demons in front of her who looked like daycare children having a tiff.

……

"..."

"..."

"Tch, how could I not be worried? I have a lot of things I'm counting on her to share with me, especially drawing that freak's attention away—I mean, she can't just sneak away and be done with it."

After a moment of silence, Hesk, who was clearly more mature, sighed deeply and spoke first.

"Damn... I hope I haven't really been changed by this inn."

After apologizing, the big cat, who looked shocked for a moment, muttered something only it could hear.

……

"I know... I'm sorry, I just..."

Angel, seemingly unsurprised by Hesker's apology, stood silently for a while.

He opened his mouth, then frowned dejectedly and turned away, as if he had given up on something.

Seeing this, Hesk hesitated for a moment before patting the Spider Sinner on the shoulder reassuringly and saying...

"...Hey, I know you're close to ■■■, she'll be fine."

"..."

"Ah."

"But don't you think this kind of sentimentality is a bit disgusting?"

"..."

"really."

……

"Does she do this often? I mean, ■■■."

Lucifer, who had been curiously observing the enormous body of the figure from the very beginning, suddenly spoke up and asked this question.

Hesk, looking disgusted, said, "How could that be? The only time she seems to be losing control is mostly because of that red-haired lunatic..."

"Oh, I think that's understandable, after all, that guy seems to be very good at driving people crazy."

……

"...Everyone! Everyone! Wait a minute! Has anyone seen Alastor?"

Just as everything before her was beginning to descend into chaos, Shirley, who was equally concerned about every demon in the inn, suddenly tentatively asked a question.