## Chapter 32 – No Hiding Your True Colors # 4
A Demon Lord who governs a district acting so recklessly?
To Number 25, who first encountered the image of a Demon Lord through Aselle, Orca was a very foreign presence.
Moreover, as she greeted, Number 25 could glimpse a certain ambition in her gaze that scanned her up and down in an instant.
It was hard to put into words, but one thing she could say for sure was that it was an impure, unadulterated ambition.
Number 25 subtly slipped her hand out of Orca’s, then slightly lifted her butt and stuck right next to Charlotte.
Aselle frowned and asked Orca again.
“Wait, you see her often?”
“Yeah, is there a problem?”
“What about your district?”
“I left it to my capable subordinates. In the first place, District 6 is designed to run well even without me.”
“Still, isn’t that a bit irresponsible?”
“I don’t foster that.”
Ending the trivial conversation, Orca’s sharp gaze flew towards Number 25 again, like a dagger.
“Anyway, if you’ve heard people’s names, isn’t it polite to say your name too?”
Number 25, who never dreamed her name would be called, widened her eyes.
Charlotte poked her in the side as if telling her to answer, even if she didn’t like Orca. Reflexively, Number 25’s introduction popped out of her mouth.
“Ah, I’m Number 25.”
“Your name is Number 25? That’s a unique name.”
Aselle jumped back into the conversation. Unlike usual, she looked quite anxious.
“Do you have a problem with my slave’s name? Just say the reason you came here.”
In contrast, Orca’s face was relaxed. Looking only at her face, it seemed as if Orca was the owner of this castle.
“Didn’t I say the reason earlier? I just came to see a friend.”
“I’ve never thought of you as a friend.”
“Hey, why are you being so hurtful? We’ve been together since we were kids, haven’t we?”
“Just because we’ve been together since we were kids doesn’t necessarily mean we’re friends.”
At the potentially hurtful words, Orca only fiddled with the handle of her empty coffee cup. Orca’s gaze turned to Number 25 again.
Even with sunglasses on, she could tell for sure.
As if Number 25’s thoughts were correct, Orca immediately threw another question at Number 25.
“Hey slave, don’t you have anything you’re curious about?”
If you’re suddenly asked if you’re curious about something, even the questions you were thinking about tend to disappear. It might not be true for everyone, but it was at least true for Number 25.
Number 25 was desperately squeezing out a question from her head, which had turned as white as a blank canvas.
“Um… what kind of place is District 6?”
Orca seemed to like the question, leaning completely back on the sofa and grinning.
“Looks like you’re interested in our district? Well, if you keep staying in this gloomy district, you’ll be curious about other places.”
Certainly.
Number 25 wanted to see more of the world. It wasn’t that she was tired of District 7 or Aselle’s Demon Lord’s castle.
She just wanted to engrave all the worlds in these eyes, in this memory, for the sake of her brothers who were dying trapped in cages. Seeing Number 25’s eyes shining, Orca didn’t miss that small light and began to list the advantages of District 6.
“It’s easy to think of it as a pleasure quarter. Ah, it’s not a place where you just openly have sex. It’s a district where you can pass the time with wine and romance, where history and tradition breathe.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, you should definitely come and visit sometime. There are a lot of fun older sisters, and there are a few guys your age too. Someone like you could probably become an ace as soon as you walk into any shop?”
Aselle, who had been quietly listening until now, slammed the table as soon as she heard Orca’s words and stood up from her seat.
The table, unable to withstand Aselle’s strength, split exactly in half, and her eyes glaring at Orca looked as if they would spark.
“Ace? You’re trying to throw our kid into that kind of trashy brothel again?”
Number 25 didn’t know where to look in the suddenly fierce atmosphere. It felt like all of this had started with the question she had asked.
Unlike the frightened Number 25, Orca spoke calmly in front of the broken table.
“Trashy? I just made a light joke because she seemed a little scared? Why are you reacting so sensitively?”
Aselle’s eyes were bloodshot, and a chilling light flickered in them.
“Your dirty jokes aren’t funny at all. You trashy bitch.”
Orca’s lips, which had been smiling gently, closed tightly. Orca’s eyes behind her sunglasses had also turned coldly hard.
Orca put her jacket back on, took out a cigarette from her pocket.
She lit it with a practiced hand, then took a long drag.
The harsh cigarette smoke filled the reception room, and Orca opened her mouth through the smoke.
“I came to talk to you, not to fight. How about you speak nicely?”
“This is me speaking nicely to you. I’m barely holding back from tearing you limb from limb right now.”
Orca carelessly threw the cigarette butt onto the broken table. The smoke that continued to pour from her mouth expressed her sigh.
“Olbers, even for me, your attitude just now is unpleasant? It’s your old bad habit. Arbitrarily defining others as evil, and not even trying to have a proper conversation as if you’re good.”
The fact that Orca deliberately called Aselle by the unfamiliar last name of Olbers meant that she was quite angry.
But Aselle was just as angry. She didn’t back down even a step from the current argument, and raised her voice until the veins in her neck stood out.
“Who was it that lured my subordinates with the false promise of being able to make money easily, and made them rot while selling their bodies in pleasure quarters? Wasn’t it you? If I don’t think of someone like you as evil, then who should I define as evil? Know that there’s a limit to how much I can tolerate because of our old friendship.”
Orca shrugged her shoulders and retorted.
“I just presented one way to live life a little more comfortably. It was them who were swept away by the temptation, by the atmosphere, and set foot in my territory. The choice was entirely theirs, and isn’t the result of that choice something they should rightfully bear? What you’re doing now is just a belated tantrum.”
The atmosphere was getting more and more heated.
Number 25 felt nauseous and her head felt like it was about to break from the throbbing magical power fluctuating between the two Demon Lords.
“Orca, enough. You don’t want to die here, do you?”
Charlotte, sensing Number 25’s abnormality, warned in a voice filled with blue venom.
The balance that had been so tense collapsed in an instant with Charlotte’s addition, and Orca raised both hands above her shoulders, gesturing surrender. But her expression was still full of composure.
“Don’t glare at me like you’re going to kill me. Even for me, I’m not confident in handling both of you at the same time.”
After finishing speaking, Orca slipped her hand between her breasts and took out a rolled-up piece of paper from inside and threw it to Aselle.
“What’s this now.”
“It’s a week-long pass to the pleasure quarter in our district. Come and visit sometime. Aren’t you curious about how the kids who left back then are living? See with your own eyes whether they’re living like trash, as you say, or whether they’re living hard in their own way.”
Aselle, still not having calmed down, shoved the pass Orca gave her deep into her pocket with a trembling hand.
“Is that all you have to say?”
“No, there’s still one more thing left.”
She was sick and tired of talking to Orca now. Even in this situation, she wouldn’t say anything to provoke her like before, so Aselle spoke with a voice that seemed to have given up on everything, with the intention of just listening and ending it as quickly as possible.
“Okay, go ahead.”
Orca stood up from her seat, brushed the dust off her jacket, and said nonchalantly.
“You might be satisfied with a life of having a man by your side like you do now, but you might lose everything. This is a warning as a friend.”
Leaving behind those meaningful words, Orca immediately left the reception room before Aselle could even answer.
The castle that Orca left felt like a storm had passed through.
Aselle stood still in that spot for a while.
Number 25 cautiously approached Aselle.
“Are you okay?”
Only then did Aselle return to reality, gently stroking Number 25’s hair and forcing a smile.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Were you scared because of us?”
“I’m okay. I believe the Demon Lord will protect me.”
At those words, Aselle’s smile became even more natural than before.
“Yeah… I have to protect you. I can’t afford to lose any more subordinates to trash like that.”
Aselle took her hand off Number 25’s head and pressed her temples, looking at the broken table.
“I’m sorry, but could I ask you to clean up? I’m a little…”
Before Aselle could finish speaking, Charlotte said as if she knew everything.
“Yes, Number 25 and I will clean up here, so go and rest first.”
Aselle herself must be the most distressed right now, but she repeatedly apologized to Number 25 and Charlotte as she left the reception room.
The door to the reception room closed, and Charlotte, who was left alone with Number 25 again, had already forgotten about cleaning up and was sending a lecherous gaze towards Number 25.
