"My back is fucked!" Inri protested. Kurone heard a ‘crack’ as she stretched out her arm.
"Huge!" Dora looked at the scenery, amazed.
"It's really big!" Kurone affirmed.
If compared to the Grain village, Sophiette's land was twice as large.
At the moment there were people from Grain, Fallen and other nearby towns camping in Sophia's garden.
People's expressions changed radically as they saw Kurone's group approaching. Distressed parents were the first to run towards the young man's group.
In the end, only the residents of Grain needed to take refuge there - But it was better not to tell the residents of Fallen about this.
‘Sixteen children and Princess Elisabella were rescued, ahhh, how troublesome…’
Indeed, Kurone was surprised to realize that one child was missing from the carriages. The woman broke into despair when Sophia said ‘one is missing’.
How can someone suddenly disappear?
"Don't worry, we will find her." Noah tried to calm the young man down.
"You should rest."
"Brain is right." The maid agreed. "You must be hurt pretty bad."
"Inri helped me, but it would be nice if Miss Elsie could heal my hand…"
"Elsie?" Noah turned her head, confused.
"You probably don't know her, she's a maid with black hair and who talks funny."
"That annoying girl." Rory, sitting next to the boy, commented in a cold tone.
"Elsie…"
"Kurone, where did you hear that name?" Brain said in a raised voice.
"That was the girl's name, wasn't it?"
"Was she a maid?"
"Y-Yes... You see, she was the one who accompanied Rory when we arrived at the Soul Za mansion. Don't you remember your own friend?"
The red-haired maid looked vaguely at the sky, sighed and continued:
"Let me tell you a curiosity…"
The group of Kurone, Dora, Rory and Noah looked attentively at Brain's words. The maid pronounced in a somber tone.
"My name is Azazel van Brain. Unlike humans, the name of demons is composed of a pattern. First, the name of the clan."
"A-And then, you belong to the…"
"Azazel clan."
Kurone swallowed dryly when he heard ‘Azazel’.
"Besides the ‘van’, each demon has a unique name."
"So that means that no two demons have the same name?" Noah narrowed his eyes.
"Yes."
"And what does this have to do with that strange maid?" Rory asked. The little girl's expression was different than usual, but only Kurone knew this — a result of their time together so far.
"Demons also have a hierarchy." Brain continued. "There are several positions, but one in particular can only be attained by the strongest. It is a position that is second only to the Demon King."
"I didn't know that." Noah commented.
"Currently the one who holds this position, the position of President of Hell... is a sadistic demon called ‘Azazel van Elsie’."
Everyone was silent. Out of the corner of his eye, Kurone could see Rory clenching his small fists.
"W-wait, you just said that demons have unique names."
"Yes. If what you are saying is true, the person who was with you in the mansion was none other than Azazel van Elsie."
"..."
"What do you know about the masks?" Rory asked.
For an instant, Brain's eyes widened. The girl remained silent. She thought carefully before answering.
"Almost nothing. I only know that the masks are unique, passed from demon to demon, and only those closest to the Demon King can use them."
The conversation took a totally unexpected turn. Kurone was confused. Did ‘mask’ refer to what the maid was wearing when she killed Edward?
"Rory, where did you hear about the masks? I've never seen one myself."
"But what about that maid who killed Edward? She wore one, didn't she?" Kurone asked the maid.
The girl frowned and answered with a ‘what?’.
"But it was you, Kurone, who killed the Marquis."
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What was going on? The young man's mind could no longer process all this information.
Everyone saw that the girl, Azazel van Gyl, had killed Edward with a blow to the chest. How could they forget?
"Rory, who... who killed Edward?"
"It was the girl in the maid's outfit."
"Dora, who killed Edward?"
"Uhh! It was that strange girl!"
"Noah, who killed the Marquis...?"
"It was you... wasn't it? What's going on? My head is starting to hurt right now." Noah sat in the carriage, his hand massaging his temple.
False memories? Mandela effect? What the hell was going on?
Only the little girls and Kurone had the real memories — or were these the false memories?
"Could our m-memories have been manipulated?" Noah asked. "Did there really have a maid named Elsie in the mansion?"
"No. When Edward made a contract with Miss Black Beast, he was given 50 maids. I, as the leader, remember the name and the face of all of them. "
"Was there a maid named Azazel van Gyl?"
"No."
"Then," Rory interrupted, "you have completely forgotten about the existence of the other two maids."
"I think so. Azazel van Elsie can do that."
"But the biggest question of all is: why?" Noah, still massaging his temple, asked.
"This is a mystery. What does the President from Hell get out of pretending to be a maid? She could have withheld her name, but she still introduced herself as Elsie and no one suspected a thing…"
The more I thought, the more my head hurt. Gyl and Elsie, the two mysterious maids, what did they want?
"Mr. Nakano" A voice caught the group's attention.
The owner of the voice was a man with an unshaven beard and an unfit physique for his profession: Orcus. Beside him was a beautiful woman with blond hair and simple clothes, holding a basket.
"So you are the famous Mr. Nakano. My husband has told me a lot about you." she said in a sweet, calm voice. The woman's elegant style was the extreme opposite of Orcus — a rude man.
"You are?"
"Sorry, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Selena, I'm Orcus' wife. It's a pleasure."
"A pleasure too." Kurone bowed his head, doing a Japanese-style length.
"Look, I brought this for you, you're probably hungry."
The outstretched basket was filled with plates of homemade food still smoking. ‘Ahhh! Homemade food.’ Kurone would love to eat an obento prepared by Raika now.
Without ceremony, Selena spread the towel, which she brought inside the basket, on the floor. The woman arranged the dishes carefully and called the group together.
"I'm really hungry."
"Uhh! Food."
"Watch your step." Rory protested, but Dora ignored her.
When he smelled the delicious aroma of food, Kurone remembered that it had been a while since his last meal. Was it in Grain Village or at Sophiette Manor? He couldn't even remember anymore.
"You can eat, there's plenty of food for everyone." Selena smiled gently as Rory and Dora scrambled for a piece of meat.
"She's wonderful, isn't she?"
Orcus, who until then had remained silent next to Kurone, commented. The young man looked at the man and noticed several bands on his arms.
"We're talking about your wife, I'd better not give my opinion…"
"Hahaha! You're very funny." The man patted the young man on the back. Really, he was not at all elegant like his wife.
"Thank you very much."
"Ehh?" Kurone was surprised to hear the sudden speech.
"Thank you for rescuing those children. We may not have our daughter anymore, but Selena was happy to see her parents reunited with their daughters."
She remained silent until Orcus continued.
"Thank you also for killing that bastard Edward. I know we've had our disagreements, Mr. Nakano, but know that you can count on me for whatever you need."
"Right. It looks like we're going to need a lot of allies from now on."
"Ehhh... Anyway, let's eat quickly before those little girls finish everything." Orcus patted Kurone on the back once more.
He was indeed a rude man, but at the same time he was someone who only wanted the best for his wife. It was really sad that he no longer had his daughter. Kurone thought about his father. Orcus, despite not having the same education and money as Nakano, was certainly a much better father and husband than that damned man.