Which Wizard's Hotel (3)

The Count didn’t want to get hit again, so he didn’t voice his thoughts, but inwardly he shook his head. After cursing inwardly, he picked up a kitchen knife.

As he looked at the knife, he began imagining stabbing that crazy woman to death.

Thud!

“Why did you hit me? I didn’t do anything!”

“The elf said you made her uncomfortable.”

“What?”

“Yes, you make me uncomfortable.”

Elena said this while looking at the Count. The Count thought, ‘What the heck is she talking about now?’ but Rurin reacted strongly to her words.

“So you should be hit.”

Thud!

“Aaaargh!”

The Count was kicked again, rolled on the floor, and even had his knife taken away.

So, of course, he couldn’t cook properly. Rurin then slammed a scorecard with a zero on it down on the table.

“You’re last place. So you have to eat one of the dishes that the elf and I made.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yes, it is. Hehe.”

Rurin, with her hands on her costume’s waist, spoke triumphantly, and the Count began to examine the two dishes.

One dish was just a pile of greens. Something was on top of it, but there was no way he could eat just greens. To be honest, he was hungry.

The other dish was a proper meal. The meat was cooked to look delicious.

“Then I’ll take this one.”

“I won! How do you like that, Elf!”

“How could this happen…!”

“So, you stay in that penguin suit! Hehe. El told me to wear it, but that’s just ridiculous. Elena Penguin. Elpeng! Penguins are cute.”

Rurin flapped her dragon costume’s wings as she spoke. Of course, this side was cuter. Who was calling whom cute?

“Graaaah!”

And right at that moment, the Count, after eating the meat dish that Rurin had made, began rolling on the floor.

“My…my stomach… My stomach… Ugh.”

Foam bubbled from his mouth as he rolled on the floor. His face had turned completely purple.

“Did you…poison it?”

“Nope. I don’t know how to cook that dish. So I just gathered some organic material and shaped it into meat like El often does! Maybe there were harmful substances in the organic material? Like something acidic?”

“My dish is just healthy and fresh vegetables… So it seems he chose poorly.”

Normally, Elena would have rushed to save someone, but this time was different.

From the moment she became a staff member at this hotel.

No matter how much she loved peace, she couldn’t bring herself to forgive a human who had trampled on everything a young girl had.

And she had heard that there were not just one or two victims. Many children had died at the hands of this Count.

Elena had shed tears over each of those stories, so even now, she only looked on with cold eyes.

The Count coughed up blood and trembled violently. He was experiencing the pain of his organs melting inside him.

It was already the pain of hell. It would have been better if he had lost consciousness and died, so the pain wouldn’t continue.

“But, no, he can’t die.”

“Of course.”

“He made the mistake of choosing my dish, but El would get mad. I don’t want that.”

When Rurin signaled with her eyes, Elena cast a healing spell on the dying Count.

Soon, with a strong light, the Count’s body was healed. He glared at Rurin and Elena, panting heavily.

“You…you bitches. What the hell are you…cough cough…”

“Nothing happened. You’ve been dazed for a while now. Are you dreaming?”

Rurin played dumb and shrugged. Then she walked out of the dining room.

“I’m hungry, so I’m going to ask them to cook faster!”

“Yes, Ms. Rurin.”

Elena saw Rurin off, and the Count looked around at her words.

He was sure he had coughed up blood, but there was no trace of it. Even the food he had eaten was restored.

The situation kept becoming more and more incomprehensible.

“Since the meal didn’t work out… Why don’t you go relieve your fatigue with some hot water?”

“What? A bath?”

That was another enticing word.

Especially with such a beautiful woman.

Completely forgetting what had just happened to him, the Count, his simple mind spinning, grinned at Elena as he got up.

“Yes, a bath is a must at an inn. Will you be helping me bathe? Hahaha.”

The Count said this as he started walking, completely forgetting the deadly pain he had just endured.

“Here we are.”

Every time Elena felt the Count’s gaze, it felt like insects were crawling on her skin, but she held back and led him to the bath.

The water in the large bath was bubbling at just the right temperature.

The Count, after briefly dipping his hand in, nodded in satisfaction with the temperature.

“Yes, yes. This is good.”

“Then, please enjoy yourself.”

Elena bowed her head and disappeared. The Count, a bit disappointed, but thinking that relieving his fatigue was more important, began to undress.

That elf should be made to serve him after he takes down this strange inn.

He chuckled to himself.

The Count muttered to himself as he entered the bath.

“Whew, it’s hot. I’m melting. Melting.”

Just as he said that.

His body really began to melt. From his arms to his legs. The bathwater had turned into bubbling magma, that is, lava, and was glowing red-hot.

“Aaaaaaagh! Help, somebody help…”

Unable to finish his words due to the extreme pain of his body melting, the Count collapsed.

“Did you say it was fake lava made from a Red Dragon’s breath? Then it’s even more toxic than real lava. Since it’s from the Red One’s breath.”

“Probably.”

Elena nodded at Rurin’s words, then fished out the man, who was now reduced to bones, and started casting a Great Healing spell again.

“Aaaaaaah!”

The man who had nearly died woke up. He should have died from shock, but Rurin’s mental magic was largely preventing that.

It’s a type of 10th-class magic that creates a trance state, making it hard for him to die easily.

Panting.

The Count’s face was one of utter confusion.

Rurin once again dropped the Count back into the bath.

And this was repeated a whopping 108 times. The immense pain left the Count dazed and weak, but the mental magic kept him from losing his mind.

But Rurin looked at the Count with eyes that said he was worse than trash.

Her gaze was so cold that even Elena felt as if she might freeze.

Even Rurin had some feelings about Selly. Aside from El, Selly was the first person Rurin had ever felt any emotion for, even if it was just a little.

The existence of Selly, and Rurin’s feelings toward her, were unknowingly contributing to the coldness she was now displaying.

Because of this, Elena felt as though she could barely breathe.

The inferno that was melting the Count was incredibly hot, but Rurin’s gaze was so cold that it was the complete opposite.

“My dear!”

But that coldness in Rurin quickly ended. As soon as El entered the bath, Rurin turned and ran straight to him.

In that moment, warmth filled Rurin’s eyes. The coldness was gone, replaced by a warm and comforting gaze.

“My dear! I am doing exactly what you told me! So I think you should hug me!”

Rurin bounced up and down in front of El, arms outstretched. Because she was in the costume, the wings of the costume flapped as she jumped in front of El.

To think that such intense murderous intent could disappear so quickly.

Elena, reconsidering Rurin’s emotional state, came to the conclusion that Great Beings were indeed extraordinary and accepted it to herself.

El praised Rurin and then began to speak.

“Yes, you did well.”

“That’s right!”

“In the world I was born in, there’s a place called the Eight Hot Hells in Buddhism. Among them is a place called the ‘Hell of Reviving’, where you’re tormented by heat, and when the wind blows, you revive and are tormented by heat again. There’s also the ‘Hell of Scorching Heat’ and the ‘Hell of Great Scorching Heat’, where you continuously experience incredible heat. And all of this repeats endlessly in the ‘Avici Hell’.”¹

“That’s terrifying. I really should live a good life. A good life.”

When Elena, with a face full of fear, said this, El chuckled and continued explaining.

“Don’t worry, Elena. You’re probably destined for heaven. Well, whether the Eight Hot Hells of Buddhism actually exist, I wanted him to experience the hell we created first. It’s the fitting end for that bastard who tormented not just Selly but so many other children.”

With that, El turned away from the Count’s body. Finally, he gave his final order.

“Is Room 205 connected to the Orc Village in the Northern Plains?”

“Yes.”

“It seems there’s going to be a feast in the Orc Village soon, so transfer Room 205 there.”

El made his decision and left the bath, with Rurin trotting along behind him.

“By the way, didn’t you say this hotel also has a heaven?”

“It’s nothing grand. Just a place where you can have a nice rest.”

“Then me too! I need a vacation too!”

“You always just lounge around and sleep. But that actually suits you.”

“You mean this outfit?”

“Yeah.”

Rurin started laughing, waving the arms of her costume. She looked completely pleased at the compliment.

“But the tail kept getting in the way, so I cut it off!”

“Is that so? I heard someone saying there’s a random tail wandering around the second-floor hallway.”

It’s amazing how wearing that costume makes her even cuter.

The one who decided to make the hotel’s staff mascots wear costumes was Sereina, but now that I think about it, it was a pretty brilliant choice. While pondering this, Rurin asked a somewhat serious question.

“But, do you like the penguin suit more?”

“Huh?”

“The Red one said I should wear the penguin suit. But I like this one. If you like the penguin suit more, I’ll change! I’m a dragon, but I’ll be a penguin.”

“It doesn’t really matter now.”

El shrugged, then suddenly grabbed Rurin, who was glancing nervously at him, unsure if he liked the penguin suit better.

“Eeeeek!”

Rurin squealed with joy, throwing herself into El’s arms.

But El soon raised an eyebrow.

“Rurin…you…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you naked underneath?”

“That’s right! H-how did you know?”

“You idiot, you’re supposed to wear some clothes under the costume! What are you doing?!”

The texture felt different, so El pushed Rurin away and shouted.

“Put some clothes on right now. Or I won’t hug you.”

“W-w-what? You can’t do that!”

Rurin raised her hands in protest, but El was firm. With no other choice, Rurin used teleportation to disappear, because she really wanted more hugs after such a long time.

“If that Count saw even a bit of Rurin’s bare skin, I’ll have to kill him even more.”

Yes, that’s the real problem.

She did say she fell earlier, and if that caused even a glimpse of bare skin to show…

Just imagining it makes my blood boil.