I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level Max Level Witch - Volume 3 - Chapter 7

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A QUEST FOR THE UNDEAD

When I woke up in the morning and left my room to have breakfast, I noticed the population had increased considerably.

I wasn’t surprised to see Beelzebub anymore, but I wondered why both Vania and Pecora were here.

“Oh, Sister, good morning,” Pecora spoke, elegantly sipping on tea.

“Why is the demon king here so early in the morning? This isn’t your castle, you know.”

“There is a profound reason for it,” Pecora responded boldly.

The reason the dining table looked much more refined this morning was probably due to the presence of a nation’s leader. There wasn’t much in it for me, though.

“No, Your Majesty, our reasoning isn’t that deep. Today we’re on a quest in the area, so we decided to pay a visit while we were nearby,” Beelzebub lightly corrected her.

“Yes. We knew you wouldn’t be out and about at this hour.”

Vania’s comment sounded selfish. Well, it wasn’t a habit of ours to eat out in the morning, but maybe that was the problem.

Halkara brought over salads dressed with bread fried and then chopped up. It must have been a hassle for the person in charge of food to suddenly have an increase in people to feed…

“All right, here are the extra salads… Is this enough?”

“Yes, it’s delicious. A crisp salad in the morning wakes you right up, doesn’t it?” replied Beelzebub.

Flatorte, who preferred a hearty breakfast, looked like she had something to say. “Well, how we feel about breakfast doesn’t really matter—”

“Sister, I baked some cookies.”

Pecora produced some cookies and held one out to me, so I opened my mouth. She placed it inside.

“This isn’t just something a girl made for fun; this is a pro-level cookie…”

“Yes, the cooks at the castle taught me how to make them.”

She sure was lucky to be in an environment where she could select the best teachers.

Falfa and Shalsha also reached into the cookie box and munched away.

They weren’t that bad for their health when compared to fatty foods, so I figured they could overeat just a little.

And when the two dragons had some free time, I’d ask them to make some cookies again.

“So what business brings you here toda—?”

“Here, Sister, have another. This one tastes a little like strawberry.”

I opened my mouth again. And right in went the cookie.

“Mm, the fresh strawberry taste really fills your mouth.”

“Wonderful. I will apply myself even harder!”

“These cookies are absolutely delectable. It’s a deliciousness that is incredibly hard to put into words.”

Shalsha’s stiff compliment for the cookies sounded a little odd, given her expression. She was probably just saying how good they were.

“Yeah. The crunch is very nice, but it doesn’t dry out the throat and has the perfect amount of moisture to it. I think they’re incredible.”

For some reason, I spoke very highly of them without cracking a smile.

But our main topic right now wasn’t the cookies.

“I believe that none in the lands around Vanzeld Castle would be able to beat Her Majesty’s cookies! I guarantee it as a chef!” Vania had given her seal of approval, but she was sitting a bit farther away from Pecora, so she was definitely scared of the demon king.

“Yeah, I can sense a hint of wheat in the cookie. It’s very soft, too, and since they’re so light, I could eat a great number of them. That aside, why are you here tod—?”

“Yes, I also brought stone bread, a local specialty of my hometown.”

Beelzebub set down a heavy-looking piece of something that looked like bread. It was almost the size of a human face.

“Halkara, have a taste. Take a bite from this part first.”

“I won’t be able to eat this all on my own if you don’t cut it into pieces. But I will do as you say and try it.”

I was impressed by Halkara’s lack of aversion to unknown food.

“Oh, it’s sweet; it’s so sweet— Ah, now it’s getting spicy. Something weird is going on in my mouth!”

“Yes, yes. There are a variety of different flavors mixed in to stone bread.”

“You can enjoy all the different flavors if you eat it slowly, but taking a big bite like that creates a battle of flavors in the mouth. It’s a refined taste.”

Vania expressed some positive thoughts, but I wondered if that was good enough for the demon chef.

I guess it was like one of those giant Japanese rice balls with the different kinds of stuffing inside. Taking a big bite of one would put mentaiko, seaweed, and pickled plums in your mouth all at once.

“Ooh… I need a sip of water… It may not be to my taste, but it is interesting.”

Halkara was thinking positively.

It was really possible that her way of life was bringing her success as a businesswoman. Even if something was bad, she was never discouraged.

“Halkara, was it? Your salad is delicious, too.”

Pecora smiled at Halkara, but perhaps because of everything that had happened in the past, her smile was a little strained.

“Well, I suppose we should be off to work soon. Please head back home, Your Majesty.” Vania was trying to give up on the spot.

“Wait, wait! What work did you come here for anyway?!”

I finally got to ask.

When the demons were working, it was hard to say that what they did would have no impact on our world. Since I was a concerned party, I wanted to at least ask. I had to stop them if they were liable to stir up a lot of chaos.

Beelzebub pointed to the ceiling.

There, Rosalie was floating.

“What? Does this have something to do with me…?!” She was shocked.

“To do with ghosts, somewhat. And yet, as a general rule, ghosts don’t typically cause concerns where we would intervene.”

For some reason, she was starting to tell it to me like a riddle. Well, you don’t get to do this every day, so I decided to play along.

“So things related to ghosts would be, like, a bogey or a zombie?”

“Yes, you’re getting warmer.”

I just threw those out there. Did I get it right?

“In one word, the undead. We’re looking for an undead.”

“Ghosts don’t have physical bodies, so they’re outside the demons’ jurisdiction, but the undead are a different story. Whether they are demons or not is a gray area, but demons protect them because it doesn’t seem like there is any management over them in the human world.”

Vania’s explanation was pretty easy to understand. She was right that there were no laws about the undead in the human world.

But I braced myself a little when I heard that word: undead.

At the very least, it struck me as more dangerous than the troubles that came with too many boars.

“So, are we sure this won’t evolve into a big disaster…? Because don’t humans turn into zombies or whatever when they get bitten…?”

“Why does being bitten by a zombie turn one into a zombie? Zombies aren’t a plague,” Beelzebub retorted. “And by the way, zombie is considered offensive to the undead, so you should be careful. They’re unhygienic, but they live on demon land nowadays.”

It sounded like zombie was apparently the word for the unclean undead.

“Humans sometimes use magic to turn themselves into undead. It must be a part of experimentation as they try to become immortal. And so that’s how the undead come to exist in the human world.” Pecora answered my question before I could ask it.

“I see, so the undead are born from the human world. And so when someone becomes undead, then they’re taken care of by the demon side.”

“Yes. If humans discovered there was an undead among them, they may start to fear it at best, and at worst may burn it alive. The walking dead don’t have rights under human law, after all.”

There definitely wasn’t a law anywhere that said the dead had a right to a trial.

“We received a report from a demon who went shopping in the human world that they spotted something that looked like an undead,” said Beelzebub. “This business shouldn’t have anything to do with me, since I’m the minister of agriculture, but…I’m here because I received an official appointment to search for this thing. I often come to the human world, so I must be used to it.”

“Yes, I asked her.” Pecora smiled devilishly. No need for the ish, though, since she was literally the demon king.

But I was thankful, too.

When I thought about the risks completely different demons might pose, my anxiety lessened knowing that my acquaintances, Beelzebub and Vania, would be doing the searching.

“And so we’ll be conducting our investigation in this region, starting now. It’s rather tricky because the information we got was vague and difficult to narrow down… It might even be in a completely different province… Most demons don’t have a very firm grasp on the geography of the human world…”

It must be like if a Japanese person heard the name of some obscure place in America—they wouldn’t even know where to look.

Beelzebub looked so done with her work, and she hadn’t even started it.

Looking for a single undead in an unfamiliar land sounded like some kind of punishment game.

“Oh yes, I just thought of something.” Pecora clapped her hands together.

Both Beelzebub and Vania were filled with dread. She was always toying around with them…

“Why don’t you help us out, Sister? I’m sure our search will be far more productive with your help.”

“Wow, that’s a rather good idea coming from you, Your Majesty.”

For every degree Beelzebub’s expression brightened, mine clouded over.

“Wait, why me…?”

“It’s not like you have any regular employment, do you? You’ll be rewarded.”

Don’t talk about me like I’m a bum with no direction in life! I am making a living, off killing a few slimes every day!

“Right, if a human found the undead first, they might kill it,” said Beelzebub. “Maybe you say you won’t mind if an undead dies. Or perhaps that something not alive is better off dead. I see; I see.”

“Urgh, it’s unfair to make it sound like its life depends on me… And what you’re saying really scrambles my brain…”

So are they dead or alive? Can you please be clear about this…?

“Fine, fine, I get it. I’ll help you out, okay?”

“Hmm, you should have said so from the beginning.”

She sure was quick to change her tune, but Beelzebub seemed a bit happy about it, and I doubted she had bad intentions.

“Everyone, you can all sit this one out. I’ve personally agreed to help the demons on my own. Carry on with your day as usual.”

Falfa replied, “Okaaay,” and then the rest of the family seemed okay with obeying my orders. This was probably fine.

We had just recently searched for my fake; we were doing a lot of manhunts lately. Maybe this was what they meant when they said, “When it rains, it pours.”

“What sort of distinctive characteristics do undead have? I’ve never seen one before, so I don’t really know.”

“Nothing in particular.”

Both master and servant breezily gave me a terribly useless reply.

“Then how are we supposed to find it?!”

“Instinct.”

Do they know I’m a guest in their party, here?!

Things were already looking pretty grim for the near future…

After asking a little more about the undead, I learned the following:

• The undead are indistinguishable from humans by looks alone. Those who appear to be rotting, like zombies, are very few.

• But since their dead bodies smell, many use fox perfume to hide it.

• Those who originally had jobs as members of society often wish to keep that status.

This will make it a pain to search…

We met up with Vania’s older sister, Fatla, and Fighsly joined us as well. Since Fighsly had come with Beelzebub as her pupil, it felt like she was being used however Beelzebub wanted, but since she was a slime to begin with, she probably didn’t mind working under a demon.

“We will now begin our search for the undead. I hope you will all put in your greatest efforts.”

Beelzebub sounded like a leader giving instructions.

“By the way, how are we going to search for this thing?”

“We will ask around at random if anyone has seen an undead.”

I guess since demons lived such a long time, they were fine with spitballing options until something eventually worked out…

We first went to Flatta and went around asking this:

“Excuse me, we are undead collectors. Please let us know if there are any in your vicinity. The undead are people, too. Please refrain from burning them alive(?) and hand them over to us instead!”

“The Witch of the Highlands is up to something strange again.” “Oh, great Witch, how do we tell the undead apart from regular people?”

The villagers started to gather around us, so it was easy to ask.

“We’ve heard that there might be an undead in the area. It’s harmless, but we don’t want anything terrible to happen to it, so we plan to take it into our care.” I explained with very simple reasoning.

“Please let us know if there is anyone among you who wears an obscene amount of perfume.”

“Oh yeah, my wife’s perfume drives me nuts.” “Yeah, you get close to her ’cause it smells good, only to find a monster!” “She’d punch you both into next week if she heard you!”

They sure were easygoing. I doubted there were any undead in Flatta.

Then, the sky went dark.

Fatla had turned into a leviathan and was flying overhead. It could’ve been Vania, but the quiet, elegant soaring was definitely Fatla’s.

She was hard to ignore, as always… There were villagers who were staring up in awe. It was a massive creature, after all, so they probably weren’t used to it.

Then, something fell from Fatla—pieces of paper, or something like it, fluttering down from the sky.

I picked one up, and it read:

Man, the demons really were sloppy!

And I wondered if they would be okay entering the human world so blatantly.

“Wow. That’s a huge animal!” “Mommy, can we keep it?” “How are you gonna pay for its food?”

The people of Flatta were well behaved, weren’t they? I guess my living nearby was part of the reason for that…

And so Fatla’s strategy of distributing flyers reached every corner of the province itself. One area apparently panicked and sent out the army, but the arrows didn’t go high enough to reach the leviathan, and since she just flew off, the whole commotion died down.

But once the day was over, I complained to Beelzebub at our finishing trip to the tavern.

“Was there any point in my joining for this…?”

“Of course there was… To explore and gain information on the local area by yourself is also very important…”

Could you please look me in the eye and tell me that?

“If someone learns something, this way, we should receive a report. It is indeed a good and sensible way of doing things.” Fatla looked somewhat confident.

I’d acknowledge that about the plan, but there was no reason for us to be here.

“I am so tired from running all over the province and handing out pamphlets… I almost thought I might turn back into a slime…”

Fighsly was out of fuel, and she had her face resting on the tavern table.

This shouldn’t count as training.

“It’s painful, but I must get stronger… Then I can earn even more money…”

Her motives were so selfish!

“The food at this establishment is not very good… Their preparation is unsatisfactory. Even though the very same ingredients could be made into something much more delicious… The chicken skin isn’t crispy at all…”

Vania the chef was complaining the whole time. Apparently, there were some things she just couldn’t let go.

“Well, we’ve covered considerable ground. Now finding the undead is but a matter of time.”

Beelzebub the leader was merrily drinking her alcohol and fanning herself, as though we’d already won.

This had turned into a strange debriefing…

“Azusa, come tomorrow, just in case. I believe we will find our target sometime tomorrow.”

“Yes, yes. I’ll treat it like a part-time job.”

But against Beelzebub’s expectations, there was no word about any undead.

We handed out flyers in nearby provinces as well, but no response.

“We’ve come to a dead end…”

Fatla, who was probably a perfectionist, was getting paler.

As usual, we finished the day at a tavern in some town.

It looked like members of the demon race really liked these end-of-day meetings.

“The possibilities I can think of are, one: there was no undead to begin with, or two: the undead is out there somewhere, but it’s hiding. If it’s the latter, then the flyers won’t be very effective,” I said.

“Hmm… We spent quite a bit of money on the pamphlets, so I do hope they’ll be effective… I fear the officials at the treasury will nag me…” Beelzebub sounded worried about what people at home would say. “Come, Azusa, don’t you have any good ideas? I know you’ll think of something!”

“Come on! Don’t praise me when you need something from me. We don’t even know if it exists in the first place, so the hurdle is way too high for me.”

It was very possible we were searching for something that didn’t actually exist.

“What if we added a reward to the pamphlets? Like, fifty million gold to anyone who finds it.”

“We don’t have the budget for that, Fighsly, and if we did, people like you would lie and say they found it.”

I thought she was being too harsh on her apprentice, but Fighsly’s face tensed, so they were both to blame.

“Um… Would you happen to know anything…? You are the most knowledgeable about human lands, Azusa…,” the pale Fatla said to me.

“I haven’t heard a single peep about unde— Wait, yes, I have.”

Where was it, again? It was pretty recently that I’d heard the word…

I certainly wouldn’t have been talking about the un-liveliness of the undead myself nowadays, so I had to have heard it from someone else.

But no one in my family was interested in the undead. I didn’t think that had been a hot topic in Flatta, either.

So if it wasn’t at home and it wasn’t in Flatta, then there were only a few places left… Oh, I remember!

“It was when I was looking for my fake! There was someone who was weirdly obsessed with the undead!”

I didn’t remember getting a clear look at the person’s face, but that was all I had.

“Couldn’t that just simply be an undead fanatic?” It didn’t sound like Beelzebub trusted me yet.

“I don’t think that’s a thing. And even if they were, someone that enthusiastic about them would probably know where one was.”

The next day, we headed for the community where I found the person who wouldn’t stop referencing the undead.

We started by asking around. If only I could remember what they looked like… I had a feeling it was a woman, though.

First, we visited the person who looked like the village leader.

“What? No, you won’t find something so terrible in a pastoral community like this. Why, a sheep catches a cold here and makes the news!” the mayor said leisurely. Hmm, our first shot was a miss.

“Fear not. This is a small community. If we ask everyone, it will become clear in due time,” Beelzebub said to me and started asking. The population of the place really was small enough that questioning every single resident was possible.

I asked everyone I met about the undead, but by the time morning turned to noon, we had no results.

“Undead? No way, not here.” “I’ve never seen a rotting person before.”

That was strange. Did we come to the wrong community? But this was the place where I found the fake, so I didn’t think I got it wrong…

“Well, this was a complete failure, wasn’t it?”

Beelzebub was staring at me hard. And she wasn’t the only one. Fatla gave a tired sigh, and Fighsly was hitting her legs to make a point, it seemed.

“W-well, what can we do…? Stuff like this happens…”

Then, a lady passed by with a basket filled with apples that were very—maybe too—ripe.

They must have smelled a little rotten, because there were even a few flies buzzing around them.

That caught my attention.

“Excuse me. Aren’t those no longer edible? I have heard that they’re most delicious just before they rot, though.”

“Oh, these? They’re for Pondeli, who’s currently acting as the graveyard watch.”

“The graveyard watch…? I’m sorry—I don’t follow; do you think you could tell me more about it?”

“The graveyard watch is a little bit of a joke, you see. She’s essentially a grave-keeper. See, the community graveyard is up on that hill over there, and Pondeli has been watching over it for five years now.”

Beelzebub was taking high-speed notes behind her.

“Word is, she has a strong stomach and has said she can eat things that have started to rot with no problem, so I bring them to her often.”

“I see! Do you mind if we go with you?”

We headed for the public graveyard. According to what I heard from the lady on the way:

“Pondeli casually wandered into town about five years ago. She said she’d act as graveyard watch. We told her we don’t have any graves of royalty with hidden treasure or people who would mess with the graves, but she insisted, saying, No, I’ll watch over them! I don’t need much income, either!”

So she asked for pay? What a cheeky girl she was.

“She doesn’t seem like a bad kid, and she has been taking care of the place under the name of the graveyard watch. She’s told us that her professional eyes will keep the graves safe and sound.”

What sort of skill was that…? Maybe she could quickly find and clean dirt on the stones that a layperson couldn’t or knew how to make offerings without attracting crows.

But the words graveyard watch really stood out to me…

I was reminded of the poor souls from my previous life that regularly got stuck with the graveyard shift. Never again…

We finally reached the top of the hill. There was a small hut for the manager at the entrance.

“Pondeli lives there.”

She would probably be suspicious if we all suddenly barged in on her.

“Ahem, this girl here, Vania—she actually loves looking around at graves… They call it ‘graving,’ see. She is particularly interested in the graves of famous people, so we’ll go ahead and look at the graves if you don’t mind!”

“Huh? I don’t give a lizard’s tail about gra— Mgggh!”

Her older sister, Fatla, covered her mouth. Great job.

“I don’t think we really have any graves of famous people here. The only one might be the one who won an orange-eating competition. His headstone is in the shape of an orange.”

That might actually be worth giving a look. I really wanted to see it.

“Oh, she’s right! There’s an orange one here! And it’s not just a relief; it’s a freestanding orange! An orange statue!”

Vania was the most excited about it, and she ran over toward it.

You really are interested!

We let Vania go running off to the graves, and we gave the lady some space so we could confirm who this Pondeli was. She would probably come out to see the woman.

“Azusa, do you think it’s an undead?”

“It might be. The undead don’t age, right? Which means it sounds like she’ll go from place to place to live, right? People might get suspicious if they saw how she always looked young and never aged.”

Then the door clicked open, and a girl in her pajamas appeared.

She had a cat’s ears and tail—she must have been a catperson.

“Pondeli, I brought you your rotting apples.”

“Yaaawn, thank you. I’m sorry—my days and nights are backward, so I just woke up. I was playing games all night…”

“You really do lead an irregular lifestyle, don’t you? You need to eat. You’re looking pale again today, too.”

“I’m fine. I eat when I’m hungry and I sleep when I’m sleepy. I am devoted to nature.”

There was no doubt about it.

I didn’t know if she was undead, but she was definitely a NEET…

And on her pajamas, it said: I’ll end up a magic stone if I work.

Meaning, probably: I’ll die before I work…

Once the lady left, Beelzebub knocked on Pondeli’s door.

But there was no answer.

“Hmm, perhaps she doesn’t open the door if she doesn’t know who it is. Security-conscious, this one,” Beelzebub commented.

“It’s fine. Leave this to me.”

I could sort of see how I could deal with this.

“Hello, there’s a package for you! I need your signature!” I called in a pitch somewhat higher than my usual one.

“My apologies, but I think this idea might be too much…” Fatla looked doubtful, but this would be good enough.

“Wouldn’t saying something like, We discovered a small magic spring that gushes holy water be better?”

“Fighsly, that sounds like a water purifier scam…”

“Oh, I just thought of something else. Couldn’t we make a killing if we used that as a reason to increase her monthly bill?”

“I think you’re going to be arrested sooner rather than later…”

That wasn’t something someone who devoted themselves to the martial arts should say…

And my package strategy was a success.

The door clicked open.

“Books sure do come quickly nowadays. Thank y— Huh?! Mraw?!”

She saw our faces and must have instinctively realized she was in a bad spot. The sound she made was very catlike, as befitting a catperson.

She tried to close the door, but Beelzebub had already twisted her hand into the gap in the door and was forcing it open. No one should underestimate the power of a great demon.

“Heh-heh-heh. Are you our undead? You are, aren’t you?”

“N-no! I’m just a regular graveyard watch! I watch over the graveyard twenty-four-seven!”

“Oh-ho, then perhaps we should take you to the temple and have the cleric there cast some purification magic on you. We could do it right away if I ask politely. I am a demon minister, after all.”

I thought, Don’t conflate human priests with your demonic power, but it sounded like the threat worked.

“I—I’m sorry! I’ll do anything, so just… I’ll do anything but work…”

Apparently labor didn’t fall under this girl’s definition of “anything”…

“Lady Beelzebub, let us hear what she has to say,” the always calm and collected Fatla said smoothly. “And…I will drag my idiot little sister away from her study of the orange grave over there…”

“The orange looks so real!” Vania exclaimed from within the cemetery. It sounded like a lot of trouble to have such a weird little sister…

All of us entered the cramped house.

There were piles of what looked like books and games all throughout the room.

There was a table, but it was covered in a mess of things; it was almost like a hoarder’s house.

“My name is Pondeli… I’ve been undead for almost forty years.”

“I see, so you’re still a newcomer,” Beelzebub said.

Forty years and still a newcomer—sounds like the world of fine art.

Pondeli must have been nervous, because her cat tail was actively swishing back and forth.

“I originally lived alone in the kingdom capital, but I hated working, so I always just lazed around at home. And eating was starting to become a chore, and before I knew it…I starved to death,” said Pondeli.

So people out there could starve for such a shocking reason… Life sure was full of surprises…

“But I must have been mummified well, since my body didn’t rot away at all. Then as I lay there, bathing in the light of the moon, I started coming to life again as an undead.”

“Is it possible for something like that to happen to a dead body if it sits in the moonlight…?” I asked.

This wasn’t a question a magic-user had any right to ask, but it sure was unscientific.

“The moon does have peculiar power, but that isn’t enough to make a proper undead. I would imagine a mage came for an undead-making experiment when you became a corpse, no? It isn’t entirely bizarre if you had that sort of help.”

From what Fatla said, it sounded like it was completely possible.

“Is there anything to gain for the mage?”

“It’s valuable material for experimentation. And since she was inside, they could just sneak into the room without garnering any suspicion from the townspeople.”

After hearing Fatla’s explanation, I finally understood. There was even demand for corpses in the world.

“And once I learned that I was undead, I didn’t need to work to stay alive. I knew I had reached the pinnacle of jobless life, so now I’m wandering region to region. Oh, would you like a fruit?”

“They’re practically rotten, so no thanks.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll take one… It might not be quite rotten yet. What a waste it would be to say no.”

There was a hungry look on Beelzebub’s face.

Oh right, she had some things in common with flies!

In the end, at Beelzebub’s request, Pondeli placed an almost rotten—no, probably already rotten—fruit on a plate.

If someone told me this was an undead’s room, I would agree.

“But back on topic, I’m now acting as graveyard watch here. I can see everything from that window. I watched one of the headstones fall over in a storm the other day.”

“Given your job description, you should go put it back to normal.”

“No, even if it falls, it’s definitely still there, so it’s fine.”

“You’re really just watching?!”

“This is a dream job. Since I’m undead, I don’t get scared when I see ghosts appear.”

Ah, so that was a strength of the undead.

Apparently, Pondeli would go out into the community to get some pocket change. She looked like a young girl, so some people would just give her money. And so she saved up her change to buy games and books.

Games meaning board games and card games.

“I’m the innocent type, so they must be letting me get away with it.”

Don’t say that yourself, I thought, but I knew what she wanted to say.

This Pondeli girl was insanely laid-back.

People who owned cats didn’t have them to put them to work. They were perfectly content watching them do whatever they wanted. There was a part of this girl that was like that.

“I am content with this lifestyle. Well, if there was something I didn’t have…” Pondeli turned a sad gaze to the mountain of games behind her. “I’m alone most of the time, so I don’t have anyone to play with. There are children who come to play sometimes, but…”

It sounded like the life of a lonely NEET was rough.

“Even with kids to play with… Everyone grows up, you know? So they go out to work or go off to get married… And then they stop coming over. That makes me sad, so I search for a different community and move there. I’ve done this over and over.”

Pondeli’s ears drooped.

“The only ones who stay kids forever are special beings like you.”

Though there was a small number of immortal and near-immortal beings in this world, they were of many different kinds and races. Witches like me and demons were the same, too.

On the other hand, there were also people who grew and aged normally.

It was so hard to watch people I knew die when I first experienced it. I had to detach myself in order to keep going.

The girl said it had been about forty years since she became undead, so she still wasn’t used to an immortal lifestyle. And yet all her young playmates would grow up into adults very quickly, so all she experienced was parting over and over again. This was probably the most difficult time period for her.

“What, is that all?” Fighsly said like it was no big deal. She must have had some sort of solution. “You’ll never get lonely if you temper your body!”

What a stupid answer!

“Then your muscles are your friends! Ha-ha-ha!”

It’d be cruel to make her live a life where her only friends are her muscles!

“Even if what Fighsly says is rubbish, I agree that it’s not too bad.”

Beelzebub spoke with the generosity of someone who had lived a long time.

“So then why don’t we play a game together here and now? We at least have a good number of people here.”

When she said that, Beelzebub truly looked like a good older sister. This girl knew when to give up.

“There are plenty of people who would play games in the demon lands. From now on, you will be able to play games to your heart’s content whenever you have free time.”

“Really?! You would do that for me?!”

“I am a demon minister. It’s a simple task for me, really.”

Beelzebub flashed her teeth in a grin.

“Boss, you’re so cool!”

“Exactly what I expect from you, Lady Beelzebub!”

“Master!”

Beelzebub’s subordinates gazed at her with respect. She was acting like a big, important person, after all.

Ah, I see. I had a lot of girls around me, too, and Beelzebub was also the core of her group.

“Then what game should we play? I have so many kinds!”

“Why don’t we play this Marionettes card game?”

“This is a masterpiece. You have to be so tricky, even with just a few cards! I always play this with a girl who lives in the community!”

“Playing it with just two people isn’t very exciting. I recommend four to six players.”

“That many people don’t come here…”

And so we had a game night that lasted until morning.

Since she had so many games, we played and played with no end in sight.

It’s best to have a good night’s sleep, but it can be fun to cut loose every once in a while.

And as for the games themselves—

“Hmm! First place.”

Beelzebub was practically unrivaled.

“Boss, I think if you went a little easier, then the games would be better from a balancing standpoint…”

“What are you talking about, Vania? Wouldn’t the game be spoiled for everyone if you clearly knew that I was going easy on you? Games are battles of the mind. How rude it would be not to do it to my utmost?”

I understood what Beelzebub was getting at, but it got boring when she was number one in everything.

And Vania never failed to take last place.

It looked like the ranking of our smarts was manifesting in the results.

“Then why don’t we play a game with a stronger element of luck? That game over there, Headhunters, is a sort of nonsense game.”

“Wait, you can’t explain the game when it’s not your house.”

Oh no, Beelzebub is taking over… She’s acting like she owns the whole place…

Either way.

I could tell right away that Pondeli was having a fantastic time.

“I’ll take first place next time!”

Both demons and cats were night owls. I just concentrated on going along with the party.

And so dawn broke.

“Phew, that was so much fun!”

“I wanted to win at least once…”

Beelzebub’s near-constant victories and Vania’s near-constant losses were creating two very different moods.

“Thank you all so much!”

Pondeli’s expression was so lively, it was impossible to think of her as a NEET.

“Please come again. You have to! And you can bring other demons, too!”

“Certainly. In a way, we’ll be closer than ever.”

“What, you’re moving to the area?!”

Like Pondeli, I didn’t exactly know what she meant at first.

“No. You will be moving to the demon lands from here.”

And that’s when I remembered our original goal.

If we left the undead alone, humans might find out what she really was and dispose of her.

We had been looking for her in order to protect her.

“So for now, we shall have you live in Vanzeld town. I’m sure you will make friends there, and you can play as many games as you want on your time off.”

“Huh? Time off…? That concept only applies if there will be time spent working, right…?”

“Yes. We’ll have you working hard in Vanzeld town. We have simple work for you, so you’ll be all right.”

When Pondeli heard Beelzebub’s words, her face blanched.

Then, she clung to the table.

“No! I won’t work! If I have to, then I’ll watch a graveyard or something! I’ll do my best!”

“Fool! One day, when you’re discovered to be undead, you’ll be erased from this world! It would be best for you to move to demon lands and work there!” Beelzebub tugged at Pondeli’s back.

“I don’t mind moving, but why does a job have to come with it?!”

“Because it’s part of my job to make sure the undead I bring in gets hired! I shan’t allow something so terrible as unemployment after I’ve brought you in!”

“But I’d actually prefer that! I don’t ever have to work!”

In a way, things were getting more complicated…

I had foreseen the two values clashing.

On the one hand, Beelzebub’s values dictated, We will protect you, so in return you will work as a proper member of society.

On the other hand, Pondeli’s was, I don’t want to work, so I won’t! I have the freedom not to!

Which was right…?

For me, who died a corporate slave, I wanted to say there was no need to force her to work.

But that probably meant that all she had to do was find a job that didn’t push her.

I felt like that view wouldn’t validate someone who refused to do any work at all, too. Nobody around me insisted on life as a NEET in the first place.

Beelzebub’s intentions probably weren’t compulsory labor; she probably just thought that a member of society should work for a profession to earn money to live.

At least that much was true. Humans were creatures who participated in society through work…

But was it okay to force someone who refused to work?

“You will not earn any money if you do not work! You won’t be able to live!”

“Yes, I will! I’m undead so I don’t need to eat! I’m perfectly content with receiving fruit or whatever from people who want to indulge me once in a while!”

“That’s not what makes an independent adult!”

“I have no plans to be independent, but I’m not causing trouble for my parents, either!”

Fighsly and Fatla looked on in bewilderment.

“Um, Miss Azusa? What should we do about this?”

“Fighsly, you handed this off to me at the right time… So, what do you think about this? The questioner should give her opinion first.”

“To be honest, I want to be rich, so I don’t understand the mentality of refusing work itself.”

“You money-grubbing woman!”

“Money-grubbing slime, actually. Motivating myself with money makes life even more fun, and it’s easier to set goals.”

I guess that was how a freelancer might think about it, too. There were countless answers out there in the world.

“Thank you, Fighsly. Now, what do you think, Fatla?”

“For me, I believe she should move to Vanzeld Castle normally and work. Because if she stays here, we don’t know when she’ll be discovered as an undead and be put down. She should not live a jobless existence that puts her life in danger.”

“That’s reasonable.”

It was weird for an undead’s “life” to be in danger, though.

“Then you’re the last, Azusa.”

Tch. Now they’re asking for my opinion outright.

“Indeed, indeed. Azusa, tell us what you think!”

“The demons are turning employment into too much of a virtue! As a human representative, please tell them about the significance of not working!”

The bickering duo looked to me.

Urgh… It’s sounding like my opinion is going to decide everything…

I wonder if there’s some sort of magic that could produce good advice… Of course not…

“A-ahem…”

All right, I’ll make this work somehow with my own words.

“Oh, though I wouldn’t mind should you choose to let her mooch off you in your house in the highlands.”

“Nope, not happening.”

“My, that was rather dry of you.”

Beelzebub seemed slightly surprised at that, but we did take turns with household responsibilities, after all.

I even made my daughters help out with the cooking and cleaning. I couldn’t have someone in my house who wouldn’t do any of that. It would completely throw off the general mood of the household.

“Well, the answer is obvious.”

Let this solve the problem!

“Pondeli should open a game lounge wherever she moves to!”

Both Beelzebub and Pondeli blinked at me.

That probably wasn’t enough for them to understand, so I explained a little more.

“Pondeli, you like playing games with everyone, right?”

“Most games need a bigger number of players… I got so fired up playing with so many people, like this time around!”

“Then, this is just a guess, but I’m sure there are tons of people in the demon lands who don’t have enough people to play with. So why don’t you start a trade where people pay you to play games with them? Then you can play while you work.”

“Azusa, is that work…? That sounds to be a bit much…”

“If it fails as a business, then it just doesn’t generate any money. Since it’s a one-man business, it’s possible she won’t make any profits, but since Pondeli doesn’t really need to eat to live, it’s no harm no foul, right?”

“Oh, that’s right! I’ll be conducting business in a legal sense, then! I might be able to do that!”

Pondeli’s expression brightened. That was a good reaction.

“I see! If I get a lot of offers to play, then I can earn money by playing! And if I don’t get any offers, then I don’t have to work! It’s a win-win!”

“Yes! I’m sure that won’t be a problem for you!”

I felt oddly excited, probably because I’d stayed up all night. My brain was getting flushed with dopamine. Yeehaw!

“And so, what do you think, Beelzebub?”

“Rgh… Rrrrrgh…”

Since Beelzebub was a government official, she probably still wasn’t completely satisfied with the idea, but—

“Ooh! Fine, fine! I’ll put in an application for it! But you will submit a notification that you are opening a business, okay?! Otherwise I won’t acknowledge your so-called ‘game lounge’!”

All right! Problem solved!

“Thank you, Miss Azusa!”

Pondeli bowed her head over and over.

“It’s fine; it’s fine. I hope you thrive in Vanzeld town.”

“Oh, but moving is going to be such a pain…”

She glanced around at the rest of us.

“That much you can do yourself!”

Beelzebub paid me for helping with the investigation, and I went back to the house in the highlands.

Since I had stayed up all night, I went straight to sleep once I got home.

And I know you’re asking what I used the investigation money for—

“Okay, then Falfa’s going to use a defense card there. ”

“I won’t stop you! I will use a card that strengthens my attack even more!”