S-Class Dungeon’s Mistress - Chapter 135

“Puhat!”

Adelaide spit out the tea she was drinking. From the moment she sat back in her seat, she promised that she would not be deceived by anything she heard from Ellie’s mouth. Still, she couldn’t help but be embarrassed by the love confession.

“Oh, Adelaide! Wipe it with this.”

Ellie was startled and stood up. She gently wiped her lips with the handkerchief that had a cute pattern on it.

As she got closer, the scent of delicate flowers wafted in the air. Ellie’s bre*sts were clearly visible because of her posture as she wiped her mouth. She had unbuttoned her shirt a while ago so they were only covered by her undergarment.

“Th-That’s fine, just put your clothes back on again.”

Adelaide hastily slapped her hand and pushed her away.

“Oh my.” Ellie smiled at her as if she found that adorable.

“You’re cute, Adelaide. Is this the first time you’ve been confessed to by a female?”

“No, it’s not……. It was just so sudden.”

Adelaide took out her plaid handkerchief, the one Lisianthus had brought, and wiped her lips again.

She wasn’t surprised because she was confessed to by a female. When she was the succubus queen, she used to receive confessions from numerous demons regardless of age or gender.

But she couldn’t help but be astonished as this was the first time she had received a confession from an opponent, an opponent that she had nailed as an enemy in her heart. Usually, when that happens, the other person also hates her.

Her frozen heart was shaking in embarrassment. Maybe this is what Ellie, or Uriel, who is behind Ellie, is aiming for? Everything including a confession as a strategy? As her reasonable doubts surfaced, she scowled and looked up at Ellie.

Her glare met eyes full of affection.

At the same time her eyes turned away again. I’ll ignore you pretending to be pitiful, but even if this was just acting, I can’t do this! Adelaide closed her eyes tightly, declaring surrender in her heart. She agonized over what to say to rebuke her.

“You fell in love with me? That’s preposterous. We met for the first time yesterday.”

“That’s right, we met for the first time yesterday. And yet Adelaide showed such kindness to a demon like me, whom she met for the first time, who is even working under Uriel. I couldn’t help but fall in love. It was like fate.”

“Fate! How can such a big word come out by helping just one time?” Adelaide puckered her lips with a baffled look. Ellie went on without a care.

“Adelaide may not know it, but the life of a weak demon like me can change with just one help. Yesterday was exactly that day for me. To be frank, it really bothered me that you had a good relationship with Caladium, but now that I know that Adelaide is a good demon, I thought I should meet you and tell you about what happened in the past.”

“I didn’t expect to confess like this.” She muttered as a faint smile formed across her lips.

“It’s okay if you don’t believe me. I think it’s really cool that you trust your demons. I think I fell in love with you even more. But, I just want to ask one thing from you……. If one day, Caladium shows a violent behavior like I described, I hope that you will remember my story and flee without delay. I only wish for Adelaide to be safe.”

“This is what I really wanted to say.” Ellie added this and looked at Adelaide with a firm expression. Her blue eyes were so clear that you couldn’t find a lie. Adelaide barely regained her composure and parted her lips.

“……Fine. So, we’re done talking right?”

“Yes. Thank you for taking time out for someone like me, Adelaide.”

“It’s okay. I’ll pay so you can go.”

Adelaide responded coldly and stood up from her seat. She reckoned that there was nothing good if she acted kindly. She had heard everything she needed to hear so it was best for her to disappear as quickly as possible.

But Ellie was a more formidable woman than she had thought.

“I already paid.”

“What? When?”

“Before Adelaide arrived!”

As Ellie answered her cheerfully, she came over to her side. The way she gently tilted her head and smiled was so cute.

“You know that I’m a demon who has to work every day in order to eat, right? So next time, Adelaide, please buy me a meal.”

A frighteningly natural after-sales pitch! Adelaide was amazed. But now it was awkward to leave. She quickly took out her money and tried to hand it to Ellie, but when she lifted her head, Ellie had already disappeared in the distance.

“I must see you again!”

Leaving only a greeting full of cuteness.

* * *

Adelaide and Lisianthus returned to Greenville with uneasy faces. Adelaide was troubled by the guilt of listening to the bad things about Caladium, and Lisianthus was very upset by the immense charm of his master who was not picky with her demons.

“Lisian, you still can’t get in touch with Caladi?”

“Yes. I still haven’t heard from him.”

“Haa… I see.”

Adelaide sighed deeply and leaned back on the sofa. The stories Ellie had told her kept running through her mind.

She wasn’t confused because of her story. Adelaide’s heart was firm no matter what she heard. The reason Adelaide kept replaying the conversation in the cafe was only to figure out Ellie’s intentions.

“What do you think? The conversation earlier. What was she trying to say? To drive a wedge between me and Caladi?”

“For now, that’s the likeliest reason. As long as my and Lupinus’ existence are hidden, Greenville’s only power is Caladium. There is nothing the other dungeon masters can’t do if we get rid of our core power.”

“Then, did Uriel make her do it? From what I saw yesterday, she didn’t seem to like me. She is related to Abaddon after all.”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think that’s it.”

Adelaide snorted lightly. I’m not an id*ot, did she think I’m going to fall for such a foolish trick? Who does she think I am! She folded her arms tightly and let out a wheezing breath.

Her trust in Caladium was very strong. Adelaide reaffirmed that she would never doubt Caladium, no matter what he did in the future.

However, as if playing a prank on her, within a few hours, another problem began.

“Adela! This, look at this!”

The Skeleton Captain hurriedly ran with Bell in his puppy form on his back. Well, to be more precise, with Bell biting the back of his neck. Seeing that his eye sockets had grown so large, it seemed that something big had happened.

Adelaide saw that he had the Dungeon Daily in his hand and her face immediately distorted. Nothing good came from being entangled with Dungeon Daily.

“I already read today’s Dungeon Daily earlier…….”

“This is different! The Shoebill just delivered a new one.”

Dungeon Daily seems to publish a newspaper twice a day now. Haa. Adelaide sighed as she accepted the Dungeon Daily newspaper.

Coincidentally, under the headline that was written as a scoop, there was content related to Caladium.

<「G-Dungeon Devil x The Victim Who Testified, ‘Murder in Retaliation’!」

Devil C of G Dungeon, who recently became the subject of a hot topic due to his ruthless assault issues, was revealed to have held a grudge against victim M who testified and was then murdered in retaliation.

M’s body was found in a dark alley outside the castle of Graciel. His body had melted to the point where it was difficult to identify him. It is believed that he suffered from the fire-type power of Mr. C. If it wasn’t for Dungeon Daily’s excellent system that periodically checks the location of informants as a form of protection, perhaps even the fact that he has died would not have been noticed.

As for the actions of Mr. C, who brutally murdered the victim just because he testified of his crime, the demons…… >

Adelaide crumpled Dungeon Daily and threw it away. She tried to restrain herself in front of her demons as much as she could, but she couldn’t hold it in.

“These b*stards with their misinformation again……!”

Bell was startled by the sight of her spitting out abusive language and fell off the Skeleton’s body. She was the kind of demon who never let curse words touch her mouth so everyone looked shocked.

“Master.”

Convinced that the b*stard Caladium was a bad influence, Lisianthus placed his hand on her shoulder.

Fuming, Adelaide looked up at Lisianthus. Somehow, his expression looked more cautious than usual. He bit his lips and seemed to be having a difficult time trying to say something.

“It’s not misinformation.”

“……Huh?”

Adelaide asked involuntarily.

“This article is not misinformation. Caladium killed Mitchell, Victim ‘M’. This is information that I confirmed separately yesterday.”

She couldn’t understand Lisianthus’ words. Did Caladium really go to that demon and kill him? Why? She was so bewildered that she felt light-headed.

“Well then, there must have been some reason. That guy named Mitchell must have been a very bad demon! He probably wasn’t a real victim, he would have made Caladium suffer with that false testimony……. I’m sure he would have done another bad thing. There is no way Caladi would kill an innocent demon.”

“Yes, Caladium can’t possibly do that.”

When Adelaide desperately made excuses, the Skeletons nodded in agreement. But Lisianthus’ words did not end there.

“Yes. That’s possible. However, the public opinion is not good. According to my investigation, Caladium is fighting several demons all over Esperanza. I heard that among them, there were demons who did not actually want to fight.”

“……What?”

“Also, I checked a little while ago and confirmed that both Mitchell and Ellie were demons who once worked under Caladium. But since this happened in Helheim and most of the demons who lived there are dead, it is difficult to obtain more information. There’s also no way to prove that the habitual beatings they claimed aren’t true. It’s even more difficult to prove if Caladium killed one of them.”

Adelaide’s face grew serious. Did Caladium really beat up demons who didn’t want to fight? Also, was Ellie really Caladium’s subordinate? It was quite humiliating to believe that all this was a lie.

“The problem is that, as long as follow-up reports like this come out, we can’t delay announcing our position any longer. You have to decide. Whether or not you will completely deny Caladium’s crimes.”