to react to this revelation. Elisabeth paid Kaito a "humph" as she stepped onto the center of the teleportation circle. "Once we return, do something about dinner. If you can prepare sweets of that caliber, surely you can craft a proper meal. And if you fail to make something decent, it's the Ducking Stool for you." Kaito followed her but stopped for a moment and looked back. The scene painted before him was an unmistakable hellscape. A scream rang out from far off, and the animal pen collapsed. The flames grew stronger yet. Thinking back on the Knight's bizarre form, he muttered to himself. "...Twelve more of those, huh?" Kaito lined up next to Elisabeth. She clicked her heels. As the two of them vanished, the Knight's lance burst into blue flame, crumbled to ash, and scattered on the wind. 2 A Hellish Game Having acclimated to his new world and strange situation, Kaito came to a number of realizations. In order to maintain his soul's stability, the golem body Elisabeth had created for him automatically translated things into words he was familiar with. As a result, not only could he read and speak this world's language, but he could understand most of it as well. However, the translation didn't always follow strict rules. Sometimes Elisabeth referred to things not by their names in this world's common tongue but in an archaic dialect. When Kaito heard this, his ears picked it up as a foreign language. Furthermore, there were many objects that had the same name as something he was familiar with yet were completely different. For example, besides salt, pepper, and sugar, most of the spices in this world had completely different flavors and intensities than their counterparts from his world. When he'd tried to use them in the same fashion, the results had been disastrous. "...and that's why my cooking is so bad." "Ah, but that can hardly be the only reason. Your technique, too, is wretched." Kaito made his appeal while his wrists were strung up in chains from the dining room ceiling like a prisoner. Elisabeth sat in an antique chair, the legs of which ended in clawed feet clutching orbs, shaking her head from side to side as if to say that Kaito was still at fault. The remains of his grilled pork kidney with garden-fresh salad lay on the floor, skewered by a single sharp spike. If the chains holding him up lowered even a little, Kaito's right foot would meet the same fate. It was a simple form of torture yet effective nonetheless. Kaito squirmed as he shouted his displeasure. "Don't go giving me that disappointed face, dammit! You're the asshole who decides if I live or die! Cut it out, please; I'll do anything!" "I can never tell if you're being rebellious or subservient... And you're far too useless. Your purin is the sole reason your torture is this light; if not for that, I'd have disposed of you a long time ago." "Wait, you mean my purin's the only thing keeping me alive?" "Indeed. Give thanks to purin." This news caused the color to drain from Kaito's face. Elisabeth nodded once she was sure Kaito understood his position. It was then that Kaito realized. Even at the best of times, Elisabeth's attire functioned on a razor's edge. The leather belts wrapped around her breasts left little to the imagination. The height and angle from which he currently hung only exacerbated that fact. From his current position, he had a clear view of the valley between them. "Elisabethâ€” Er...um...Miss Elisabeth. I couldn't help but notice your outfit is a bit...risquÃ©." "Hmm? What are you saying? Iâ€” Oh...I see. Prepare to die!" "You're the one practically showing off the goods! Blaming me for pointing that out is tyranny! Tyranny, I say! And hey, as far as my cooking is concerned, you said the dish I made after we got back from the village with the Knight was good, too, didn't you? You know, the grilled liver, the one I cut up and skewered and added salt and pepper to!" "In your mind, does that fall under the purview of 'cooking'?" "Does it not?" "No." Elisabeth moved to snap her fingers. Kaito made puppy dog eyes, frantically trying to supplicate her, but she just laughed in his face. He braced for impact. "Hmm? Well, if it isn't the Butcher." "Hwah!" Suddenly, Elisabeth released the chains binding Kaito's hands. Rather than pain, he had been prepared for death, but the spike vanished from his landing point. As he rubbed his back, Elisabeth rose elegantly and went to greet someone. Kaito turned toward the entrance and was startled by what he saw. A man stood there, covered head to toe in black cloth and carrying a bloodstained sack. From the swaying openings in the man's outfit, Kaito could make out clawed hands and scaled legs. Elisabeth cast her arms wide as she presented the man to Kaito, who had finally risen to his feet. "'Tis poor form to discipline a servant in the presence of a guest. Give the Butcher your thanks, Kaito. Butcher, this is my dim-witted servant, the man who continues to disrespect your lovely meat." "A pleasure, Mr. Dim-Witted Servant. I am your humble Butcher, friend of gourmands and vagabonds alike. I am grateful for Madam Elisabeth's continued patronage. I can procure any meat you desire, so long as it is 'meat.' I await your instruction." "Ah... Uh, nice to meet you, too." Kaito replied in kind, his face stiffening slightly. The Butcher's tone of voice was as unsettling as his appearance. Guessing at Kaito's thoughts, the Butcher scratched his cloth-laden cheek. "Ah, well, it is true that I'm a bit mixed even for a demi-human and that my appearance makes it hard to tell what my primary lineage is. But I'm not that different from the fine demi-humans you're familiar with, so there's no need to be quite so alarmed." "Demi-human... Uh, you mean like...the races from video games and stuff?" "Ah, so your world didn't have demi-humans. Pay him no mind, Butcher. He hails from a different world. His soul is as lost as a soul can be. 'Tis best to leave lost children to their own devices." "Understood. Then you may make the usual confirmation of the wares at your leisure." The Butcher nodded, and as Elisabeth turned to face him, he pulled an assortment of fresh organs from his sack. He showed each to Elisabeth in succession and then returned them to the sack. "Chicken and pigeon livers, pig intestines, as well as cow tongues and hearts. Assuming they meet your requirements, I can carry them to your ice-spirit fridge for you." "Yes, good work. I leave it to you." "So like you said, you really don't eat people, huh?" "Perish the thought. Human flesh tastes terrible. Why should I pay exorbitant prices for something that isn't even worth eating?" "Ah, so your hang-ups are logistical." Kaito let out a sigh. The fact that human meat could be bought and sold in the first place was unsettling. But upon hearing his remark, the Butcher hopped up and down as he made his appeal. "It is true that human meat is quite bitter and also true that it is an acquired taste, but there are many who find it quite enjoyable, you know. If you would like to try some, Sir Butler, it's relatively cheap at the moment. Perhaps it would open a new culinary door for you." "Pretty sure that's not a door I should be opening." "Oh, but are you certain?" "Very." "Very?" "Hmm? Cheap, you say? I'd not heard of any battles in this region, so from where are you sourcing your corpses?" "Ah, you see, there's a territory with a village graveyard and a castle-side river, both overflowing with human corpses. It pains me as a butcher to say that some bodies are recovered with the choice cuts already missing, but as for the rest, the acquisition is quite painless. Would you care for some? The ribs make succulent roasts." Upon hearing this, Kaito and Elisabeth turned to look at each other. With a large number of partial corpses showing up, the two could easily deduce the culprit. "Say, Butcher, does this not reek of a demon's doing?" "Ah, well, I am but a butcher, so I care little but for the quality of the meat." "I get it. You were so devoted to your interests that you ended up neglecting everything else. I met people like that when I was alive, too." Kaito's eyes were half-closed as he spoke, and for some reason, the Butcher scratched his face like he was embarrassed. In any case, after asking the Butcher the name of the territory, Kaito and Elisabeth set off. "To think that I would remember a town as remote as this. Marvel at my mental prowess!" "More than anything, I'm surprised you had enough self-awareness to realize how out of place your usual outfit would be." They'd teleported to a back alley of the aforementioned castle town, and Elisabeth held her hands at her sides as she praised herself. To Kaito's surprise, her outfit had transformed into a conventional dress. Her slim waist was fixed in a corset, and her draping skirt was fashioned with a number of flamboyant ribbons. She wore her hair up and had even added a flower to complete the look. Kaito almost wanted to call the combination of the snow-white dress and the only-pleasant-on-the-outside face a scam. Elisabeth, who now presented the image of a lovely young lady, stuck out her chest proudly. "Indeed, I am most sensible. As the demon has not made his appearance yet, I understand full well the necessity of an outfit that blends in with the common folk. Yet, for all the effort I have made to style myself as the innocent daughter of a nobleman, your butler uniform makes you look like quite the hoodlum. Hee-hee." "Oh, shut up! If it's such a problem, just give me something better to wear... Hey, Elisabeth!" Ignoring Kaito's complaints, Elisabeth walked on, heading out of the dark alleyway and nearing the main thoroughfare. Kaito hurried after her. Before long, he was struck by the wall of sound that was the unmistakable hustle and bustle of people going about their business, complete with barking merchants. As he stepped out of the alley, Kaito found himself in the town of a foreign country. While it was technically a foreign world, the vivid spectacle, the voices of the crowd, and the diverse aromas all reminded Kaito of the exotic land he'd once felt from the other side of a television screen long ago. Turning to face the dumbfounded Kaito, Elisabeth twirled her decorative flower and grinned. "And now, the line you've been waiting for. 'Welcome...to another world.'" The people walking by had all manner of hair and eye colors: gold and blue, black and gray, red and green. A man wearing a shirt and a pair of suspenders passed a woman wearing a loose shawl. A girl wearing a dirndl was selling flowers, and a man wearing a frock coat smoked a pipe. Lined up in the shops and stalls were various goods for sale, some familiar to Kaito but many unfamiliar. There was a semitranslucent potion vial with an artistic shape. A pink leaf with a saccharine aroma, packed with what looked like tobacco. An egg-shaped fruit being sold beside some apples. A massive gong rang out, and a black-haired youth with lizard arms began ladling fried rice with pale-red lumps of meat to his line of hungry customers. While it looked tasty, it gave off a pungent odor, and most of the customers standing around eating it had dog ears and tails. "Wait, lizard arms and dog ears?" "Demi-humanâ€“beastfolk crossbreeds. Not an uncommon sight, particularly with the influx of various races in low-class towns. They make up about