Restarting Life In Another World - 88 2.43 Meeting of the 10 bosses

The room was dark with just a dim red light. At the center of the room, there was a round table around which 7 men were seated. Everyone who was seated at the table was wearing a black suit and a hat. Even though their faces weren’t visible, one would conclude that they were bosses of some secret organization just by looking at them.

Even though they had been seated like this for a while, no one had started the conversation. But with every passing moment, the atmosphere around them was becoming intense. This intense moment of silence was broken by a thin man wearing a tall hat.

“Boss number 2, you know we don’t like wasting our time. Tell us why have you called us here.”

“Patience my friend, patience. I want the honorable gentlemen present here to be comfortable first. The news I am about to reveal is that shocking after all,” a short fat man wearing a black bowler’s hat replied.

“Stop beating around the bush Boss number 2. We are getting impatient here.” A man wearing a homburg hat said in an irritated tone.

“Okay. Hear me colleagues, because the thing I am about to say will blow your mind”—He stood from his chair— “The demon lord has reincarnated.”

The whole room fell silent and after a momentary silence, gossip started. This was a predictable reaction considering the scale of the news. The reaction would have been different if the news was revealed with evidence, but without it, it was natural for the whispers to start.

This wasn’t the first time this kind of claim was made, but most of the time it turned out to be a fake rumor. While in this case, it was hard to ignore this since the one making the claim was one of the ten bosses.

“Have you lost your sanity Boss number 2? What basis do you have to make such a claim?” a man wearing a Porkpie hat asked in an annoyed tone.

This was the question that most of the people seated at the table had. But while everyone was busy trying to verify the claim on their own, Boss number 4 went the straight route and asked it directly.

“Basis you ask. What if I say that it was Lucifer who told me that?”

With these words, Boss number 2 was able to do what he was trying to do: gain everybody’s full attention. Just the claim of meeting Lucifer would have been big news in itself, but saying that he heard about the demon lord’s reincarnation from Lucifer himself left everybody at awe.

Everyone was looking at him, expecting to hear more. But he knew that making people wait longer before revealing his cards would help in building his charisma even more. He waited for a brief moment to let everyone make their own assumptions after which he continued.

“Yes gentlemen. I met Lucifer in person, and he told me that he now has a new master. Do you understand what this means? This means his master, the demon lord is back, he has reincarnated.”

“Of course, I am not making a baseless claim. Someone else saw this happen alongside me.”

After saying that, Boss number 2 looked towards the door. On the door there was froggy, peeking inside as the conversation was going on. At this point, he was supposed to enter the room. But when he saw all his superiors inside, he was confused as to whether he should take a step forward or just hide himself completely.

“Froggy, come in,” Boss number 2 said. Even though he was angry at Froggy’s inability to work efficiently, he knew that this wasn’t the right time to show his anger.

Froggy slowly walked in when he heard his name being called. Normally, other bosses wouldn’t trust when someone presents their own men as evidence. But in this venue, those who knew froggy also knew how easy it is to detect when he is telling a lie.

“Froggy, tell them what Lucifer told us back then.”

“Y-y-yes master”— He looked towards the other bosses—”H-he told us that he has a n-new master now, and he no longer wants the demon lord to be revived.”

Froggy’s presentation overall was weak, but Boss number 2 continued from right where he left.

“Gentleman, do you know what this means? This new master of his, he must be the demon lord.”

After Boss number 2 concluded his sentence and sat back in his chair, whispers started again. This was a normal reaction because despite what Boss number 2 and Froggy said, it was hard to ascertain if what they said was indeed a fact or not.

“Okay, let us assume that what you are saying is true.” The whispers stopped as the man wearing the Fedora hat spoke. “Who do you think this new master of his is?”

After hearing that, Boss number 2 stood up again. “There was a white-haired boy who summoned Lucifer just by calling his name. I think that boy is the one. But I am unsure as to who or where that boy is.”

“This sure does complicate things,” the man wearing the Fedora hat said as he leaned back in his chair.

There was a moment of silence as all of them started thinking about the appropriate course of action moving ahead. Even though there were instances where Boss number 2 bent the truth. But never before had they heard something of this scale from him. And the fact that there was nothing he could gain from all this made this look even more genuine.

This moment of silence was broken when the small man wearing a cowboy hat spoke.

“Things look too uncertain at this point. It would be too hasty to act this early. But then, it might be foolish to not act. Number 1, can you tell Joker to mobilize clubs to keep an eye on this boy?”

There was no one who stood up in objection to those words since the one saying that was the decision-maker among them.

“Yes master. I will,” the man wearing a tall hat replied.

“Then this concludes today’s meeting.”

With those words from the small man, everyone stood from their chairs and slowly walked outside.

Tall top hat: Boss number 1, Bowler hat: boss number 2, Homburg hat: Boss number 3, Porkpie hat: Boss number 4, Trilby hat: Boss number 5, Fedora hat: Boss number 6, Cowboy hat: Boss number 0