Devil's Business

Hell's Bath

It is nearly two weeks of his adventure upon the hell’s realm after the introduction of Juno’s task as the ‘hero’ of the demon’s universe. He started to get used with slicing the ghoul, his premier enemies of the realm and training partner for the day, and pushing up the ranks in every hack and s***h of his sword. His money from the earth’s pilgrimage were pouring down in his mind. The cash were there inside the head, complete with numbers and counting for each faculties implied after any successful configuration from the user himself.

For the trial, He has already converted 2 millions of them into stats, which increased all of his 5 stats categories tweaked into more than 400 at once. With these powers, he could smash away the life of ghouls in one single swoop. On the other hand, He spent 3 millions into coins and save the rest for future strategies.

Like today, his activities were mainly consists of murdering abundant ghouls until the red evening comes ashore. It never depleted of one in spite of his energy exertion for a full week to the job. Most of the citizen of the main city, as he now learned it to be known as Unus, have started to acknowledge his presence. Several greeted him along the way, while the other chuckled with ease when he arrived with nothing ascertain to notice.

For the evening, as every single hours allocated to his development in the previous days, he chose to spend the resting time inside the inn nearby the city’s main gate. He strides indoors with exhaustion upon the head and nesting down the bed as the main inspiration for his own. The inn’s owner, a female demon with maid costume, smiling to him as he appeared from outside.

“Welcome, young human hero! What do you wish to have for today?” Said the female inn owner in cheery expression. She does it for every guests that come across, so Juno doesn’t reply in the very much intensity as the receptionist before him. He just smiling a little before putting the sword to his back right away.

“Hello again, Mia. Are you supposed to greet me every now and then as if I am new? We have met, right?” Stated Juno in contentious demeanor with eyes squeezed shut at times in fatigue. As she saw the negative impression from Juno, she walks inside her counter then re-appearing with a glass of water to offer.

“To give you the truth, that’s my way to cheer you up, you know. A young human like you, with such monstrosity dwelling upon your head, ah... I can’t bear much to think such life exists.” Said Mia with gentle smile to Juno,” Please, drink this potion to refresh your stamina again, at least for walking up to your bed.”

“Its precisely water, huh. Don’t worry, I’m not that tired. Thank you, anyway, Mamma Mia.” Said Juno before gulping all the water immediately,” Don’t forget, you’re the most absurd devil I’ve ever know. You’re too kind.”

She chuckled and smiling by the praise,” Being a demon won’t make me have to be evil to everyone, Juno.”

---

A consolation speech from the inn owner made him recharged, even though not all the fatigued cleansed away from his muscles. The excess slime of ghouls could be seen all over his light armor, lining up for brushing session under the soaking wet soap of the wash. His schedule was packed with training for improving his technique, but there are usually some resting period for him to caress the body with the warm energy of the hot spring of the inn. Today is one of the days for him to do such breaks, as he walks to the main gate of the public hot spring right away.

“I have been working on every aspect of life inside this city. A week is pretty long, considering of how much I have expended. It seems as if the time period in this realm is slower than earth somehow.” Murmured Juno as he thinking out loud in his bath. Since it’s already night-time when he first arrived to the inn, almost none of the house’s guest appeared to come over inside the bathroom. It’s exactly a private time for the human male to mumble words and strategies with his own imagination.

The warm water was spurting out off a lion statue from afar. It silently judging Juno’s lone conversation by the cold stare of its design. The water itself never stop flowing out and filling the stone-made pond, while it never exceed the limit at some point. Because it’s hell-bound, numerous magical red flame are encircling Juno and the bath’s entire territory. Just like the one found in front of the main gate, the fire itself is not cooking up and hurting anyone’s skin when it’s being touched.

A moment of lonesome Juno was ending when someone else entering the warm water ground. Since this is a mixed bath, anybody could get inside and joining him along. Juno doesn’t mind with it, though, as information could be transpired from a simple conversation at any time.

“Juno, is it?” greet someone within the mist. The shadow, when it was emerged, displaying a slim figure of a woman. The voice itself was clearly recognizable for Juno. The soft, but tenacious and crunchy tone pointed out the fact that it is Mia, the young female demon and the inn owner.

“The water’s not cold, Mia. Please, come and join me right here. I won’t bite.”

“Duh, it is, sir hero. Thank you for the obvious explanation.”

While the plotted mist slowly ceasing out from the main door, Mia’s towel-coated body could be perceived right away. Demon’s anatomy has a lot of resemblance with actual human, with distinction around their skin color. All of them poised maroon red on their figure, when a few got horns over their forehead. The horn itself is a sign of upper-class status within the hierarchy of demons, and Mia has none over her head for sure.

“Kyaa!” Screamed Mia when her feet touched the hotness of water down the pond.

“Shush! Don’t do that, people would get me wrong out there, Mia.”

“Haha, don’t worry. This is too isolated for anyone to peep us out.” Said Mia with a coy smile. She opened her towel when her whole body enveloped with water in entirety to feel the heat, while keep herself glancing towards Juno and his male inquisitiveness over the horizon.

“And you keep those absurd way of yours as always, huh. I won’t be that easy to be infatuated with your physique, Mia.” Said Juno to console the cautiousness of his female companion of the night. For the ample rejoinder from Juno, Mia responded with a slight shook over the head,”Man are vile and hungry. You might be not a demon from eye to toe, but human are still dangerous to me anyhow.”

After a small entrance discussion, awkward stillness immersing as a gap to both of them for awhile. Juno has no idea of what to say, considering Mia and her patronizing look all the time. This is definitely not the first time for him to meet her in the bath, but it’s always estranged once they fixed their position inside.

And it’s all there, the mounting silence upon the grid of their cleaning period, until both of them tidying up and clearing out from the site.

---

The tedious morning has arrived, as envisioned by the red giant over the western side of the sky. Juno’s schedule is tight, for him to wake up early and preparing his equipment right away for the dawn’s ghoul outbreak. Today marks two weeks for him to live as a hero. He already memorized most of the steps and needs to be one. The magical tattoo upon his left wrist gave out his current level after the rigorous training upon the barren wasteland of ghouls. He hits level 30 two days before, and would be 32 by today’s current training if he cleared out 20 more ghouls all at once. However, one mysteries is still reserved to find out for today. Random ability in promise were not there, even after those ferocious slashing and stats input. The demon was not appearing at all when he needed its assistance the most. He thought of it all day before, but the fearsome aura of the demon has not materialized likewise. “Yup, precisely speaking, it’s time for you to return home, Juno.”

Out of the blue, the red blood demon is showing itself once again ahead of the mind-boggling Juno. It dressed up in jet-black tuxedo, a circle-round different than what he was in previous state.

“What on earth? Why are you always surprising me all the time, master demon? I have no thought over-” Blurted Juno all out by the sudden appalling appearance from the red creature before him. The demon is ignoring Juno’s mild complaint over its abrupt commencement, rather overjoyed and flashing its eyes all over  him.

“Because I will come along when you’re not knowing what to do, puny mortal. For this very first time, I will escort you out of here. Later on, you’ll be on your way to this place exactly two weeks after instantly without me, okay?”

Juno has nothing to say, but a single nod of agreement for the demon’s retort,”Yeah, whatever float’s your ego, red demon.”