Chapter 27
✠
Eleven people had been caught in the dungeon sync, and they were currently scattered across the East, West, South, and North annexes.
The number of people assigned to each annex was five in the East, one in the West, two in the South, and three in the North.
The two in the South annex were Ifeil and Hestio. According to the game rules, they were sitting in front of the banquet table.
“Hestio, you got pulled into the dungeon just when you were about to have lunch, so you must be starving, right? Here, ah~”
“Can you not do that?”
Hestio used a knife to block Ifeil’s attempt to feed him hot-pink cake.
The cake fell with a plop onto the floor.
“No, Hestio! Throwing food on the floor like that, don’t you know ‘Strict Order and Good’ will punish you?”
“Why don’t you eat it yourself and get the reward?”
“Ah, I was curious what would happen if I ate it.”
“You can’t even identify your own food. How are we supposed to raid a dungeon with someone like you? I should just leave this party…”
Apart from the bickering between the two, the banquet hall was quiet.
Half an hour ago, the dolls had served the desserts and left. The fussy demon butler didn’t appear either.
As a result, only the children were sitting blankly in front of the banquet table.
The children generally watched the food warily. But the hungry ones drooled and pouted.
Ifeil checked the fork and knife and commented:
“They’re sharp. You can roughly guess what’s being planned.”
“The best thing would be to stop the others from eating, but…”
“If we do that, we’d never get out of this banquet hall.”
The vile demon would not release the children until the scenario he wanted played out.
Despite their different personalities, Hestio and Ifeil thought similarly.
By then, some children had lost patience.
“I can’t take it anymore!”
“Me too! I want to eat!”
The children grabbed snacks and shoved them into their mouths.
Desire was contagious. Even the children who had been restraining themselves eventually reached for the desserts.
At some point, the children’s behavior went beyond gluttony and became almost frenzied.
Some dug into the cakes with their hands, covering their arms in cream, while others swallowed cookies so fast they could barely breathe.
Eventually, fights broke out over the food.
“Give it here! I claimed it first…!”
The children, eyes glazed over, began to pick up forks and knives.
“Don’t touch the food… it’s all mine…”
“S-sausage… I don’t want cake, I want sausage… where’s the sausage…?”
At just that moment, someone—or rather, a demon—appeared as if waiting for this strange frenzy.
“Oh ho! It seems the game is just about to begin in the South annex!”
Butler Rodrigo appeared. Just out of the bath, his flushed face still moist.
He somehow looked perverted.
“Now, the third game is ‘Hallucinatory Houseplay’! Forks, knives, plates, silver candlesticks, everything! There’s a full play set, so go ahead and have a friendly massacre with your peers!”
Ifeil and Hestio stood back to back.
Ifeil wiped the fork he had used on the cake with a napkin and held it vertically in front of his face.
Hestio held a knife in each hand, crossing them.
“Hestio, bless me.”
“Let’s leave divine power out when dealing with the kids, for humanity’s sake.”
The children noticed Ifeil and Hestio and began approaching. Just as they were tensing for an attack—
BANG!
A small explosion erupted from the fireplace. The banquet hall instantly filled with thick, acrid smoke.
“Cough cough! What the—didn’t you clean the chimney properly?!”
Rodrigo, despite just bathing, was covered in ashes. From a corner of the fireplace, Helberos watched him.
When the choking smoke subsided, the scene in the banquet hall had completely changed.
“Ugh, my head hurts…”
“What…? Why am I holding a knife upside down on the table…?”
“Wah, someone poked me with a fork! There’s blood!”
“Sorry! I thought it was sausage… why did I do that…”
One by one, the children regained their senses.
“So, I guess we don’t need to fight?”
“Yeah?”
Hestio and Ifeil lowered their knives and forks in relief.
Only Rodrigo was still throwing a fit.
“What is this! How did the hallucination stop? Hey, Infernal Blaze! Come out here!”
<……>
“Hey, hey! What was that smoke you brought earlier? What did you eat, huh?!”
<……>
Helberos shrank to the size of a candle.
Though he remained silent, each flicker of flame released black smoke.
“Detox herbs!”
Rodrigo, enraged, stomped on Helberos.
“You useless firewood spawn! Die! Just disappear already!”
<Ah, no! Stop…! I-I was wrong! Please spare me…!>
Crunch!
Rodrigo, a high-ranking demon, stomped several times, and one of the infernal blaze’s main features went out in an instant.
Only a black charcoal lump, presumably its core, remained.
Crunch!
Rodrigo crushed that as well. Feeling somewhat satisfied, he smiled brightly and tried to brush his hair back.
He frowned again, sensing trouble elsewhere in the mansion.
“Wait, why is the West annex like that?! The hallucination dessert hasn’t even been served! Kitchen, what are you doing…? No, why is the kitchen in this state?!”
There was the sound of teeth grinding.
Hestio and Ifeil whispered.
“The West annex is where Teselid is. Could it be that he did something to break the effect?”
“Eh, no way. He’s not cunning enough to prank others like this.”
“Right?”
“Yeah.”
They had already concluded that Teselid and cider had nothing to do with it.
At that moment, something happened to Rodrigo.
“How dare… make me angry!”
The whites of his eyes turned red, and his white hair flared upwards. His true demonic nature had surfaced.
“…Hah, I got a little excited without realizing it. Anyway, this won’t do. I’ll have to raise the game’s difficulty to match the children’s level.”
He grinned, exposing his gums and fangs like a predator.
“We’ll skip games four through nine and go straight to the tenth game. This game is called, ‘Signflower Bloomed!’”
The children looked confused, but no explanation was given.
“Just know it’s an ancient demon-world tradition. You learn the game by playing it.”
Rodrigo snapped his fingers, and black dust fell from the ceiling.
The children panicked, shaking the dust from their heads.
Rodrigo snapped his fingers again.
This time, the floor shook, and a massive mole doll burst through the ground.
Wearing overalls and a checkered baker’s hat, it looked like a gardener.
“The tagger is this mole gardener! No breaks, let’s go! Game s-tart!”
<Signflower… has bloomed…!>
The mole doll awkwardly recited the game’s name against the wall, then suddenly turned.
“What… what is this… wait! Your… your head…!”
“My head? What about my head… ugh? Something’s touching it!”
“My… a sprout is growing from my head!”
The mole stayed true to its role as tagger.
<Signflower has… bloomed…!>
“It’s… growing! Waaah!”
“What is this! No! Mommm!”
The black dust were seeds.
Within moments, demonic plants rooted themselves on the children’s heads and began sprouting buds. Growth rates varied.
Hestio, with a cute green sprout on his head, looked at Ifeil.
“Ifeil, nothing on your head?”
“Nothing?”
“Yeah. I thought your head would sprout a bunch since your mind is like a flower field, but surprisingly, it didn’t.”
“Thanks. Anyway, it’s real. There’s nothing on my head… huh? Wait, I feel something small now.”
“Oh? It’s growing. The more you move your hand, the bigger it gets. Keep moving it.”
The two observed the mole doll.
<Signflower… has…>
While the doll faced the wall and recited its spell, plant growth paused.
<Bloomed…!>
When it turned around, the plants grew rapidly again. If the hands stopped moving, growth paused.
Hestio shouted to those around him.
“Don’t move! If the doll sees you move, it will grow!”
“Wow, impressive! Already figured out the rules! This kid—well, lamb, you’re pretty sharp!”
The children froze, sprouts and buds on their heads. The banquet hall fell silent.
Only Rodrigo’s excited voice pierced the tense air.
“Right now, signflower seeds have infiltrated your heads. Every time the tagger spots movement, they’ll grow, root, and bloom. Isn’t it exciting that beautiful flowers will bloom on your heads?”
“Eeek…!”
“No… I don’t want…”
“Signflower is the most beloved flower in the demon world. It comes in many colors, but dark purple is the finest. It’s so rare it appears once every thousand years. I’ve never seen it myself. But!”
Hic, gulp!
“You never know, one of you might grow the dark purple signflower! That child will be valued as a living flowerpot, and spared! So strive to grow a beautiful flower!”
No one was tempted. The feeling of root tendrils probing the scalp was terrifying.
Even if it seemed fine now, over time, the signflower roots would sink into the flesh and sap life.
Once absorbed, the children would be turned into dolls.
They stifled tears and tried not to move.
“Also, for any reckless or brave ones, a warning: if you forcibly pull or cut the signflower, the roots will instantly penetrate the skull. Beware.”
Ifeil pulled back his hand from Hestio’s head, which had reached for a fork.
They needed another plan.
“Hestio, now what?”
“Why ask the obvious? We’ll leave the dungeon and get treated by a cardinal-level healer. Want me to show you how to get out? Defeat the boss.”
“Hmm, then we should deal with the mole doll and the butler first.”
“Right.”
Hestio placed his hand on Ifeil’s back, giving a blessing, or buff.
“Ifeil, go ask!”
“…Okay.”
Despite his reluctant tone, Ifeil moved swiftly.
He stomped the floor with a fork in his right hand, closing the distance to the mole doll.
<Signflower… has… bloomed…!>
“…!”
Flinch!
Ifeil stopped abruptly. The mole doll’s button eyes met his gaze.
<……>
“……”
