Hell Inn: Rebirth - I Became a Chef in Hell

Chapter 139 Why is the Broadcast Demon Like That? - S01E05

Since you tore your own soul apart, you feel like you haven't felt this much pain in a long time.

It's like the delayed pain that follows the explosion of the original body shell; every bone is shattered, and then pieced back together into a shaped skeleton by a cloud of dust.

You can almost feel the peristalsis of every muscle in your body reorganizing.

In addition, with your naturally keen hearing, you can even detect the sticky sound of flesh reattaching to bones.

Before you fully awaken, Shirley's singing voice brushes past your ears like a spring breeze that cleanses the soul.

You admit that it took you some time to refocus your blurry vision.

The blood-red scenery of hell eagerly rushes into your field of vision.

At first, what appears before you is just a thin line, which keeps expanding until it surges forth like drops of water gathering into a lake or river.

But the hellish scene you loathe is revealed by a familiar face.

As if looking through frosted glass, you gaze unsteadily at the innkeepers in front of you, their faces blurred.

Your chaotic thoughts and still-unreorganized thinking have become a jumbled mess, but those thoughts, just before they're about to slip out, unconsciously turn into words of comfort.

The broken vocal cords squeezed out a leaky, breathy sound.

The pain, like sandpaper being rubbed, makes you realize that your vocal cords haven't fully healed yet, so you have to swallow back what you want to say.

The cat-like inn maid, Nefertie, seemed not to understand what was happening.

She and Kiki, the innkeeper's key cat who is actually a kitten, stand together on your shoulder, affectionately rubbing against your head.

The good news is that your five senses are recovering.

The bad news is that your cognitive abilities haven't fully recovered yet.

The dragon girl, still looking somewhat bewildered, subconsciously lowered her head to glance at her slightly noisy embrace.

A blonde woman with her entire face covered in blood and tears, a white-haired sinner with a face full of worry and bloodstains, and a spider sinner who couldn't hear what he was saying, but was probably cursing.

After seeing familiar faces, you struggled to lift your head and glance around, as if taking stock of your surroundings.

A snake-shaped sinner, weeping bitterly, stood hesitantly to the side.

Unable to squeeze into your embrace, he hunched over, looking rather pitiful.

A large cat with wings is standing on the other side with its arms crossed.

He stood with the King of Hell, who was gripping his cane with both hands and looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

The big cat's expression wasn't pleasant, but that didn't diminish the awkward concern on his face.

...But for some reason, you couldn't lift your head to look at that obviously most conspicuous red shadow.

The exhaustion left after being reborn is far greater than you imagined, so you don't hold your head up for long.

In the inn, overflowing with emotion, the blonde woman in your arms stands out the most.

Anxiety and excitement surged within you like boiling water, so, to soothe your frightened friend, you forced yourself to touch their hair with your still-healing right hand.

But the touch was so light it was unbelievable.

Rather than stroking, the dragon girl's gesture was more like a patient's hand falling from another's grasp before death.

You are somewhat surprised by your own weakness, and you are still thinking about how to deal with this situation.

Although her overall outline had returned to normal, the Dragon Girl, who was only draped in a tattered curtain, looked thin and frail, like a willow that had just been rescued and would fall over with the slightest breeze.

At least at this moment, the "sinner" from the East has perfectly embodied the term "sickly beauty."

Perhaps it is precisely because she is usually so strong that it is unimaginable that she could get hurt that she appears so fragile when she appears in such a weak and helpless state?

"So...darling, don't you have anything you want to say to me?"

The red devil, who hadn't been in your sights, suddenly spoke up.

Strangely, the moment you heard him speak, your heart paused for a moment in surprise.

But you don't understand why you are like this, and you can only prop your slightly heavy head up in confusion and squint at the other person.

It still features the familiar red bob and the eerie, giant smiling face.

Despite his comical appearance, his gentlemanly demeanor and elegance made him appear as cunning and beautiful as a tusked deer.

...The broadcasting demon.

Before hearing Shirley's singing, you thought that arguing with him at the inn was the last thing that happened between you and Alastor.

"I don't know what time it is now, but it's sad that we meet again..."

"So, sir, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening."

You held the three sinners you were closest to at the inn, your lips pressed together, your voice as cold as ever.

"But I do have something to ask you. How is Miss Mimz doing now?"

Upon hearing your own hoarse and pitiful voice, the corner of your mouth twitched involuntarily.

But you soon notice that when people hear what you say, their facial expressions look somewhat strange.

As you remember, Alastor was the first to react.

After a brief moment of thought, Wendigo raised an eyebrow, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back teasingly, saying, "Ah~ darling, maybe now is not the time to worry about her... but she's fine. Don't waste your time on a demon that doesn't need your concern, sweetheart."

"..."

"Is that so? Then I have nothing else to say."

Faced with Alastor's speech, you felt the last weight lifted from your heart, letting out a soft laugh that sounded like you were about to breathe your last, and then lowered your head in relief.

But after doing that, you find that people's expressions still seem a bit off.

All the sinners stared wide-eyed, as if they couldn't believe what was happening before their eyes.

you:"……?"

You feel somewhat confused.

Although the sinners in hell are known for their exaggerated and varied facial expressions, even someone as oblivious as you, who has never been looked at like that before, will sense that something is amiss.

"……What's wrong?"

Feeling flustered by everyone's gaze, the dragon girl hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking the question.

But just as you were secretly wondering if you had done something irreversible while you were unconscious, Angel spoke first.

"Uh...it's nothing, I just didn't expect you to say something like that first?"

The spider sinner, sitting cross-legged, spoke to you with an unusually serious expression.

But soon, he propped his head up with a nonchalant look and gloated, "I thought our inn's ambassador of courtesy would thank his savior as soon as he woke up!"

……

Savior?

"...You mean Shirley?"

Upon hearing this, you, who were unaware that your secret had been completely exposed, immediately showed an expression of sudden realization.

However, even the most intense expressions will turn into a dull and uninteresting one when they are imprinted on your face, so the Dragon Girl didn't seem that surprised.

But before you could formally apologize to Shirley, Lucifer burst into wild laughter, clutching his stomach.

"?"

Looking at Lucifer, who was almost laughing through his tears, as if he had suddenly become cruel, you opened your cracked lips in confusion...

But after a long time, you still couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"Although I'm so incredibly happy that you woke up, but... uh..."

Seeing your confused expression, Xia Li, who seemed to have not yet fully calmed down, was awkwardly and frantically gesturing something in front of you with her tear-streaked face.

"What I mean is, although we still have a lot of things to deal with, but...!"

Because Shirley stammered for a long time without getting to the point, your attention was quickly drawn back to Hesker.

"God, you should really look at this guy's expression. Damn it, I'm going to keep this in my memoir of a failed life forever!"

After discovering that ■■■ seemed to be alright, Hesk immediately took out his bottle of liquor and started drinking. Standing next to Angel, he was so happy that even the fur on his body looked a bit more fluffy.

"Yeah, little girl, every reaction you make makes our always aloof Strawberry Manager even more pathetic—at least for this moment~ you know what I mean!"

Angel, leaning seductively against your lap, raised one eyebrow, pointing at you with one hand.

you:"……"

Completely bewildered by what the group of sinners said, you squinted in confusion, then couldn't help but look at Alastor, who stood opposite you with his hands behind his back and a calm expression.

He looked neither happy nor disappointed, and his eyelids drooped as always, just like every time you've seen him.

Wendigo's appearance remains effortlessly alluring.

The wild deer, meant to be admired from afar but not touched, gazes down at you from its high perch, making no unusual move.

So much so that you feel that all the demons, including Shirley, are playing a prank on you when you first wake up.

"...Oh! Oh! Oh! So, is the chef like those guys in soap operas!?"

Sitting on your shoulders, with a strand of hair in her hand, Nefertie looks like an old toy that's been wound up and is shaking excitedly.

"Hmph! In my opinion, the young lady chef hasn't forgotten everyone, but forgetting this bloodthirsty and brutal demon is a huge good thing... Ah! Ugh—"

Before Pantheon could finish speaking, he somehow offended Alastor, who suddenly and calmly used his usual tentacles to pull the serpentine sinner into the nearby ruins.

Soon, the sound of Sir Pantheon cursing and swearing came from the pile of stones.

Faced with Alastor's actions, you first stared in astonishment, then frowned in helplessness.

You look at the sinner lord in front of you, who appears to be completely normal.

You wanted to ask Alastor why he was attacking other demons for no reason, since it didn't fit the old gentleman's usual behavior.

But Alastor, as if he had guessed what you were going to say, raised his head with a righteous air.

The part of the broadcast demon's head that resembled deer ears stood arrogantly high, just like the way he was looking at you at this moment.

You caught a glimpse of a complex, obscure emotion in his bloodshot eyes, but the old gentleman said little, only slowly adjusting his one-way mirror before speaking with deep emotion:

"You're right, darling! Maybe I shouldn't have wasted my time here in the first place!"

"Life is short, but please forgive me, I don't want to waste any more time on your numb and boring faces!"

"adios~!"

Alastor, seemingly conjuring a hat from nowhere, gracefully gave everyone a light hat salute before transforming into a black shadow and leaving the chaotic scene without a backward glance.

……

With Lucifer's undisguised, almost deathly laughter playing in the background, you see a genuine hint of impatience on Wendigo's face as Alastor transforms into a shadow and disappears into the ground.

He frowned, as if he was extremely annoyed by something.

Just as you were wondering who had offended him and how you were going to clean up the mess you'd made, Shirley's voice caught your attention again.

"Oh...■■■, perhaps you should go and apologize to Alastor...?"

She first covered her mouth with her hand and glanced in the direction where Alastor had disappeared, then looked at you with a hint of worry on her face.

……

"...Apologize? Why?"

You look at Shirley with a confused expression.

The dragon girl's vocal cords had recovered somewhat, which made her tone carry a hint of disbelief.

"Um...because..."

Shirley, who seemed unsure how to broach the subject, started gesturing with her hands again.

Seeing the little princess's guilty expression, your doubts deepened.

However, Vicky's helpless voice quickly answered the question in your mind.

...and at the same time, it dealt you a heavy blow.

"Uh, it's like this, ■."

"Although it sounds absurd."

"But the sinner who saved you, who brought you back to your senses..."

"Actually, it's Alastor."

……

"..."

"?"