Openbookworm: Potential trigger warning: This chapter has some controversial views on the homeless, beggars, and people who have lost their money due to addiction. I think it’s important to note that this is the characters’ opinion and that the author hadn’t espoused these views in any of the other chapters, so these don’t feel like the author’s personal views.
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The news was full of conspiracy theories that Eugene and Noir might be in some kind of relationship. Considering that such a clear video had been delivered to the news in less than half a day, it was clear that Noir had pulled some sort of scheme. Noir’s influence may have also played a role in all of the conspiracy theories being raised by the panelists.
He hadn’t honestly thought that it would spread this quickly, but such speed was what Eugene wanted. If the rumor hadn’t spread, Eugene would have tried openly walking around Giabella Park to personally spread the news regarding his whereabouts.
He didn’t care about the conspiracy theories. No matter how long they spent yapping away about it, in the end, it was just unconfirmed speculation, and anyone who actually knew Eugene would know that he would absolutely never join hands with Noir Giabella.
‘Even so, I guess we’ll have to stay in this city for some time,’ Eugene thought.
Suddenly, he started feeling homesick for the Lionheart estate in Kiehl. If you added in the time while he was away in Shimuin, it had already been a year since he had last returned to his room in the estate.
Still, he had made sure to keep sending news back. Although it wasn’t a proper exchange of news, as Eugene could only send letters from wherever he found himself instead of receiving them, he had made sure to send news to his family when he had first headed out to the Lehainjar mountain range and before he arrived here in Giabella City.
Sometimes, he was able to hear news about the family from Sienna.
Carmen was currently going through closed-door training to reach the Eight Star of the White Flame Formula, and Gilead and Gion had both managed to reach the Seventh Star in close succession. Cyan was also working hard to get over the barrier to the Fifth Star, and Ciel had recently managed to reach the Fifth Star.
‘The family has enough strength to protect themselves,’ Eugene thought thankfully.
Melkith had taught spirit summoning to the forest elves as an excuse to wander in and out of the estate’s forest.
Elves possessed an extremely high aptitude for spirit summoning. The elven race was naturally able to summon low-level spirits without even having to practice any particular spirit summoning techniques. With Melkith’s teachings on top of their innate aptitude, most of the elves in the Lionheart Forest were now able to command spirits of the intermediate or higher levels.
In other words, this meant that the Lionhearts had access to dozens of mid-level spirit summoners. Apart from that, they also had the reinforced White Lion Knights, and Carmen’s Third Division and Gion’s Fifth Division from the Black Lion Knights were also stationed at the main estate.
Eugene felt relieved, ‘The current Lionhearts are pretty strong. Even without me there, they still have Lady Carmen.’
With Carmen there, there was no need to get too worried, even if their opponent was a high-ranking demonfolk. Moreover, since she was currently on her way to reaching the Eight Star of the White Flame Formula, wouldn’t that mean Carmen was even stronger than when she took part in the subjugation of Iris.
On top of that, Gilead and Gion were there as well, and Sienna had also personally reinforced the estate’s defensive formation. The defensive formation was able to defend against almost all attacks and would immediately deliver the news to Sienna the moment that an enemy attack was detected.
The Lionheart estate had its own personal warp-gate. If an enemy were to attack the main house, Sienna could head over from Aroth through the warp-gate while the defensive formation withstood the attack.
Eugene assessed the risks, ‘There’s no way that the Demon King of Incarceration would make the first strike against the Lionhearts….’
So the only possibility left would be Amelia Merwin, right? It was said that even a rat could bite a cat when cornered, but… would Amelia Merwin really do something as crazy as that?
On the surface, Kiehl wasn’t involved in the problems going on in Nahama. However, if Amelia, or those instigated by her, were to attack the Lionheart estate, that would count as an invasion of the Kiehl Empire’s territory. When they were already in such an unfavorable situation, doing so would mean turning even the Imperial Army into their enemy.
‘Though with me absent, I don’t think they would try something like that,’ Eugene decided.
In the end, the biggest risk to the Lionhearts came from the fact that Eugene was away from the estate, but… thinking about it calmly, Eugene couldn’t always be at the estate.
Since the Lionhearts were the descendants of Vermouth and a martial clan, they needed to be able to deal with external threats on their own. It wasn’t like Eugene needed to emphasize this fact to them, as those bearing the last name of Lionheart would naturally possess such an awareness.
Eugene grinned and pulled up his hood.
“I also have my own problems to deal with,” Eugene muttered.
It was already dark, but it definitely didn’t feel like it was nighttime. This was because the three Giabella-Faces floating in the sky were shooting out colorful lasers, and all the streets below had their own lighting sources.
He had heard it was called a city without a night… but it really did live up to its name.
The name used for this whole area might be Giabella City, but most of the land had been used for Giabella Park, and even what little land remained was solely used as residences for Giabella Park employees.
This enormous Giabella Park was divided into a total of four sections. There was Fantasy Square where Eugene and his party were currently staying. Adventure Square had various rides, safaris, and even a huge water park. Gamble Square gathered all the entertainment that had to do with gambling. And Dream Square provided a variety of more sensual entertainment.
The four sections were all connected up by their own warp-gates, but warp-gates weren’t the only means of transportation in Giabella Park. Because the land area was so large and the number of tourists so enormous, warp-gates alone wouldn’t be able to handle the flow of traffic.
Also, crucially, the warp-gate lacked the fun of traveling. In a mega-tourist destination like this, even moving around needed to have its own type of fun.
That was why Dream Trains were located beneath Giabella Park. Although Eugene didn’t know why the trains had been named Dream Trains when most of the names in this Park used the word Giabella, there were several different trains traveling along dozens of routes in a subway beneath this entire territory.
As the city without a night, the Dream Trains of Giabella City ran twenty-four hours daily. Most of the people heading down into the subway beneath Fantasy Square at this time were unaccompanied guardians whose children had played to their heart’s content during the day and had now been put to bed in their accommodations above. There might not be any restricted areas in Gaibella Park, but you still weren’t allowed to take children with you to Gamble Square or Dream Square.
Eugene was currently surrounded by a crowd of people who were traveling to those two locations. The smell of alcohol and perfume mixed with body odor combined into the stench of desire. The people heading to Gamble Square were dreaming of money, and those heading to Dream Square were looking to sate their lust.
Whichever way they went, their exposed desires would be taken advantage of, and all of them would eventually end up offering tribute to Noir Giabella.
Not everyone in the subway was there to take the trains. There were also people who couldn’t afford to go to either Dream Square or Gamble Square. Their bodies gave off a stale, putrid odor.
The emergency doors in the subway were always open. If you went through one of those and dug down even deeper, you would arrive at a set of abandoned railroads where the sound of the running trains could be heard echoing throughout the day.
Although they were called abandoned railroads, they had actually been built for this very purpose from the very beginning. This long and deep abandoned railroad passed through all four sections of Giabella Park, and its true purpose was to serve as a garbage dump.
The human waste that couldn’t be recycled or shipped out fell down from the four Squares above and arrived here, at this abandoned railroad.
Most people who fell into this garbage dump were divided into two types: A person who had dreamed of making a fortune but ended up losing all of his money at Gamble Square and a person who was blinded by lust and gave everything they had to a hostess in Dream Square.
Whichever way it had happened, these people had ended up going bankrupt while they were here in Giabella Park. They slept in this garbage dump at night and wandered around the four Squares during the day.
Desire could still be seen in their eyes as well. Actually, the desire burning in the eyes of these pieces of trash, who had been thrown down into the abandoned railroad, was even more blatant and murky than the desire shown by the people who were merely walking through the subway.
As soon as they were able to scrounge up a few pennies, these people would immediately go to Gamble Square or head over to Dream Square. They either dreamed of making their money back through gambling, or they tried to escape what little remained of their shattered minds through fleeting pleasure and dreams.
The abandoned railroad beneath Giabella Park was so famous that even Eugene had heard about it in advance. When Eugene arrived at one of the entrances to the abandoned railroad, he just looked down into it rather than heading straight inside.
The abandoned railroad was likely located only a few dozen meters below the subway lines. Every few minutes, there would be the rumbling sound of a train passing above, and both the ceiling and the floor shook every time this happened.
Streams of water could be seen pouring down from the ceiling at rare intervals.
Those streams seemed to provide all the drinking water these people needed, but hadn’t they ever thought about using it to wash off their stench? As Eugene looked down into the abandoned railroad with his face twisted into a scowl, he soon understood why they didn’t do so.
As long as they climbed up into the subway, there were many clean restrooms that they could use to clean themselves up, but there were no such restrooms here in the abandoned railroad. While the channels used to transport the flows of water falling from the ceiling could be used as showers… there didn’t seem to be much meaning in doing so.
‘Just how many people are in there?’ Eugene asked himself.
This was the darkness of the brightly sparkling and beautiful Giabella Park. This abandoned railroad deep underground had been turned into a den of human waste. Eugene glanced up at the swaying and blinking lights that lit up the abandoned railroad. Most lights hanging down from the ceiling were dim, but they were still being supplied with mana.
“Spare change…?” a hand reached out from the darkness and blocked Eugene’s path forward as he walked down into the abandoned railroad. “Even a little would be fine….”
In the short time that Eugene had spent walking down to the abandoned railroad, he had already been accosted by beggars several times. This may have been because the robe that Eugene was wearing was clean rather than dirty or smelly.
He had been forced to listen to their begging several times, but he had never once given them any money. Eugene couldn’t feel any emotion other than disgust towards these kinds of people.
“If you don’t have any money..,” the hand blocking his way forward suddenly began to shake.
Eugene furrowed his brow as he stared closely at the hand’s movements.
The thumb and index finger came together to make a heart[1] as the beggar then said, “Then how about love….”
This sight immediately ignited an intense killing intent and rage in Eugene’s heart. As the heart made from the beggar’s fingers shook in front of his eyes, Eugene didn’t bother to hold back any longer.
Tching!
Although Eugene didn’t directly pull out his sword and swing it at her, a black surge of mana burst forth in a slash that severed the hand at the wrist.
“Don’t you think you should have thought about it a little more before cutting my hand off? What if I had turned out to be just a normal human being?” a voice said sulkily.
When not a single drop of blood was flowing from the surface of the sliced wrist, it took incredible shamelessness to say something like that.
As Eugene continued glaring into the darkness with narrowed eyes, Noir Giabella, who was also wearing a robe, poked her head out to greet him.
“Hey, Hamel,” Noir said cheerfully. “It seems you’re in a much better mood now, huh? Earlier, you seemed pretty bad.”
“Earlier?” Eugene repeated as if confused.
“Yes, earlier. I’m talking about when you were in the Giabella-Face,” Noir clarified. “At that time, you… well, honestly, even from your perspective, you were acting a bit strange, right?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eugene shamelessly denied. “I just felt shitty because I was looking at you.”
“Hm, rather than looking shitty earlier, you looked bad in a different meaning of the word…,” Noir muttered as she tilted her head in curiosity, but instead of asking him any more questions, she just walked out in front of Eugene. “I knew that you would come here.”
“...,” Eugene kept his silence.
“Well, to tell the truth, I have been keeping an eye on you,” Noir easily admitted. “Does that bother you? No way, it would be strange for you to be bothered by something like that. After all, this is my city, and the place that you are staying at is my own hotel. So isn’t it only natural for all of your movements to be relayed back to me?
“The news,” Eugene brought up bluntly.
“Oh, you saw that? I was kind of predicting that you would come looking for me to express your anger if you saw it,” Noir confessed.
“In that case, your prediction was wrong,” said Eugene.
“Fufufu, I also predicted that my prediction would be wrong,” Noir bragged while shaking her finger admonishingly. “After all, haven't I managed to read a bit of your intentions? I may have added a little bit of my own flavor into the news, but that much should be okay, right?”
Noir giggled, then pointed to the abandoned railroad and asked, “So, what do you think?”
“What exactly are you asking?” Eugene demanded.
“Didn’t you come here to see the filthy underbelly of my city?” Noir asked, her smile deepening. “I realized you would come here after I tried to think about what this city might be like from your perspective, Hamel.”
“...,” Eugene’s lips were glued shut.
“Three hundred years ago, during the era in which you first lived, it was only natural and obvious for you humans to resent the demonfolk. The demonfolk certainly did many things that deserved resentment. However, that's not the case in the current era, now is it?” Noir said leadingly.
Without saying anything, Eugene just listened to Noir speak.
Noir deliberately held up both hands and brought them together to make a heart, “The current era can be said to be an era of love and peace. Demonfolks do not hunt humans, nor are they waging war against them. Here in Helmuth, the demonfolk protect the humans and get along well with them.”
Eugene didn’t attempt to deny Noir’s words. When he had traveled through Helmuth last time, and even before that, he had learned what the relationship between demonfolk and humans was like in the present era. At first, he hadn’t wanted to accept or acknowledge it, but three hundred years was a long enough time for what was once common sense to have completely overturned.
“This is Giabella Park, a city that focuses on satisfying all human desires. To accomplish that, I’m not doing anything particularly heinous, now am I? At most, aren’t I just charging money to sell them dreams? And well, I can’t help it if they decide to spend all the money that they have on their dreams,” Noir said as she leaned closer to Eugene. “This abandoned railroad is a place made for idiots like them. From the time when we were first designing Giabella Park, we had expected that there would be some waste generated.”
“Just what is it that you’re trying to say?” Eugene demanded impatiently.
Noir narrowed her eyes, “Hamel, aren’t you searching in this city for a reason to keep hating me?”
Eugene’s eyebrows twitched. She had the right answer.
Noir grinned and continued speaking, “Heh. However, like I just said, it’s not like I’m doing anything wrong with this city, right? Ah… and please don’t misunderstand. I am not keeping these pieces of trash from leaving by force. It’s just that they don’t want to leave.”
Noir held out her finger and pointed at the roof of the abandoned railroad.
“Do you see those streams of water over there? I also made sure that those were drilled before the tunnel was opened. Because I knew that the people here would need this water to drink. Workers are also sent out to periodically clean the waterways of the feces found floating in them and the filth left in the corners. We also give jobs to anyone who wants them!” Noir listed proudly.
Eugene didn’t show any response, “....”
Noir continued, “Apart from that, I also provide them with the minimum necessary welfare. Even so, what can I do if they voluntarily decide to live like trash? Even if I give them money to go home, they just go to the casino or the succubus club and waste it. If so, there’s nothing I can do about it, right?”
“That’s right,” Eugene said with a calm nod of his head. “It doesn't seem like you’re planning to do anything too evil with this city.”
To be honest, this investigation had fallen a lot flatter than he had been hoping for. Eugene had expected to come across something like a terrible human experiment taking place within this abandoned railroad. Or perhaps a slaughter show being put on for humans and demonfolk with perverted tastes.
But there was nothing. He had searched by himself and used some spells, but Giabella Park was exactly as it seemed. The abandoned railroad was littered with human waste while people drunk on their own desires roamed the luxurious upper reaches of the subway.
“You’re also correct that I was looking through this city for more reasons to hate you,” Eugene revealed.
Noir snickered, “Hehehe, what a shame, right? Currently, I am only engaging in legal business. Even if I don’t do anything illegal or evil, I can still—”
“That’s the problem,” Eugene interrupted with another nod. “The current Helmuth and the Demon King of Incarceration are extremely generous towards the humans. Even this city has to follow Helmuth’s laws, so you can’t do anything harsh to the visiting humans.”
Noir also nodded, “That’s right. Even when one of the Night Demons extracts the life-force of a human through their dreams, it has to be part of a transaction, not a robbery. According to the law—”
“And I’m saying that’s the problem,” Eugene cut Noir’s words short once more. “The current era is on the wrong course.”
“...Huh?” Noir made a confused noise.
“This era, which has made it legal for you, a demonfolk, to prey on these humans and this whole city, it’s all wrong,” Eugene firmly stated.
Noir’s jaw dropped in blank shock at such terribly self-assured words.
“Of course… if you were a little more vicious and physically devoured the humans in this city, I would hate you even more and want to kill you. But just because you haven’t done that doesn’t mean I lack any hatred and murderous intent towards you,” Eugene clarified.
“...,” this time it was Noir’s turn to be dumbstruck.
“Like you said, this is the filthiest place in the city. The smelliest, shittest, and most useless place,” Eugene narrowed his eyes as he pointed towards the ceiling. “Frankly, I don’t think it would be much of a problem if this ceiling were to collapse and wipe out all these pieces of trash.”
“...,” Noir stayed silent.
Eugene shook his head, “However, if at all possible, I hope that you’re the one who does it. Not me.”
“Why?” Noir calmly asked.
Eugene explained, “Because I am a human, and you are a demonfolk.”
Oh my god.
Noir smiled as she looked up into Eugene’s eyes, “Shouldn’t you be thinking of how to stop me before I do something like that? Hamel, you are the Hero, aren’t you?”
“I have a lot of people that I need to save apart from these bastards,” Eugene answered coldly.
“Hm,” Noir hummed in thought.
This was quite the cold-blooded answer coming from Eugene.
As her smile deepened, Noir looked up at the ceiling, “So it doesn’t matter if everyone here in the abandoned railroad dies? If that’s the case… then how about the people above?”
Giabella Park was the continent’s foremost tourist destination. The number of people currently on the city's surface would be comparable to the total number of citizens in Kiehl’s capital city.
“Hamel, you said that you would come back to this city in order to kill me, didn’t you? In the same fashion, I have always intended to draw you into my castle. In that case, this city will ultimately serve as a battlefield for the both of us, isn’t that right?” Noir asked.
Eugene shrugged, “I guess that will be the case.”
“Oh my,” Noir feigned a gasp. “That means there might be countless casualties as a result of our battle….”
Eugene raised an eyebrow, “Weren’t you going to clear the city out first?”
After Eugene had asked this question in a tone that made it seem like he was just stating the obvious, Noir carefully responded, “Why should I?”
“Because they’ll be a distraction,” Eugene stated bluntly.
“Hm, I don’t feel like I would be distracted… oh… hm, I see, you’re right,” Noir nodded in realization. “According to Helmuth’s laws, innocent casualties are strictly prohibited during conflicts between demonfolk, but…. If you were to come here looking to kill me, the Demon King of Incarceration would be forced to declare a state of war, so would the law still be applied in that situation…?”
“I’m saying that I would be the one distracted,” Eugene said exasperatedly. “Do you really want to fight me while I’m hesitating, thinking about how to reduce the loss of life and not giving it my all?”
Noir was left speechless. Her eyes widened into circles, and after blinking a few times, she began to seriously consider the issue.
She found herself wanting to see the sight of Hamel working hard to prevent any casualties while throwing himself in danger in order to save the lives of those completely unrelated to himself.
However, her desire to see Hamel, who didn’t have to care about such things and would only be staring at her while burning with murderous intent, was even stronger.
“I’ll have the tourists sent out before you arrive,” Noir had no choice but to promise.
In any case, since she wasn’t planning on capturing the tourists to act as hostages, there was no need to keep them confined to the city.
“Of course, you will,” Eugene muttered with a sour expression as he stepped past Noir.
Noir was left staring at Eugene’s back as he headed back up the stairs, only to quickly walk after him.
“Where are you going?” Noir asked.
Eugene grunted, “To the surface.”
Noir kept questioning him, “Why?”
Eugene returned the favor, “Is there any reason why I should head further down into that smelly pit of trash?”
“You came here specifically to see it,” Noir argued.
“And now that I’ve seen it, there’s no need to keep looking,” Eugene snorted.
Noir tried to keep the conversation going, “In that case… um… are you heading back to Giabella Castle?”
“Get lost,” Eugene rudely rebuffed.
“There’s no way I can do that,” Noir said with a mischievous smile as she wrapped her arms around Eugene. “Now that you’re outside, come and play with me.”
Noir thought this was an opportunity to build up those memories that would later leave the survivor filled with regret.
1. The Korean finger heart is a popular gesture used by K-Pop idols and other celebrities. For those unfamiliar with what it looks like, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Finger_heart.png/255px-Finger_heart.png ☜