The underground world was divided into four major territories, each ruled by a sovereign. The northern territory, governed by one of the lords named Carlos, was called ‘Esper,’ much like the realm ruled by humans in the surface world.

The western territory was named ‘Pero,’ and although most of the territory was a desert, it possessed abundant underground resources.

The eastern territory, known as ‘Nomos,’ featured the largest and densest forest in the underground world.

Lastly, the southern territory was ‘Hwidor,’ consisting of dozens of islands separated from the mainland. Among them, on the white sandy beach of the most beautiful island, ‘Paralia,’ a young man with blue hair resembling the emerald sea lay on a beach chair. On either side of him, women dressed in gorgeous attire sunbathed.

At that moment, a man dressed in black conquest approached, leaving deep footprints on the pristine white beach. The man’s face was distorted in a brutal manner. Although the women seemed to be uneasy about his angry appearance, the young man paid no attention to the man.

“My lord.”

As the man, Hugo, who had approached him, called out, the young man finally glanced at him.

“Hugo. What’s going on?”

“Do you really not know why I came or what went wrong?”

“Yeah. I really don’t know.”

The nonchalant tone and response from the young man ignited flames in Hugo’s eyes.

“Do you really not know that sunbathing during working hours is inappropriate?”

“Work is important, but so is rest. Proper relaxation enhances work efficiency, don’t you think?”

Unable to accept Abel’s response, Hugo clenched his fist, lips twisted.

“Taking a week off without doing any work, calling it proper rest and claiming it enhances work efficiency?!”

“Uh-huh.”

Abel, who lost words, only rolled his eyes and looked across the sea. When Hugo sternly retorted, “If a week is enough rest for you, then go back to work quickly. There’s a mountain of tasks that Lord needs to handle,” Abel, muttering, “My mental wounds haven’t healed enough to work yet,” received a raised eyebrow from Hugo.

“Are you complaining because the plan to build a new villa fell through?”

Abel didn’t answer, but Hugo, interpreting it as an affirmative response, sighed deeply.

“Even though you have many existing villas, why do you keep being so greedy?”

“More of anything is better.”

“Then, having more work is also good for you.”

“Ugh, work is an exception.”

Seriously. Suppressing the bubbling anger, Hugo gripped his head. If Abel wasn’t the lord of the underground and his master, and if he wasn’t the one serving the lord, he would have confronted him.

“Anyway, I think you’ve rested enough. Let’s head back to the castle.”

Crack! Out of nowhere, the sound of a crow’s cry was heard, causing Hugo to look up at the sky.
In the clear sky without a single cloud, a black dot was visible. The small black dot, smaller than a fingernail, gradually enlarged, revealing its form.

“Angelerea?”

Hugo, who identified the dot, widened his eyes. Abel, who was lying down, also noticed Angelerea and stood up. As Abel reached out his arm, Angelerea circled around his head before finally settling on his arm.

Sharp claws mercilessly dug into his clothes. Even with only the upper body of a monstrous bird on his arm, Abel’s arm didn’t shake at all.

“You’ve finally arrived.”

The face muttering to itself exuded leisure. Abel, singing a tune and having a letter tied to Angelerea’s foot, finally let her go, emitting a much weightier cry than a crow as she flew away.

Hugo looked at Angelerea sitting on the parasol. If his memory served him right, this monstrous bird belonged to Carlos, the lord of the northern territory.

In other words, the sender of the letter was Carlos.

“You two, be on your way.”

After shooing away the women who were fanning Abel, Hugo waited until Abel finished reading the letter.

At the end of the brief wait, when Abel put the letter back into the envelope, Hugo asked, “Did something happen to the lord in the northern territory?”

“Huh? No. There’s no issue with Carlos.”

“That’s a relief.”

If there had been a problem with Carlos, Abel would have rushed there immediately.

Hugo sincerely breathed a sigh of relief, adding the words he hadn’t been able to say before.

“Well then, let’s return to the castle, my lord. Everyone is waiting for the lord.”

“Um, I’d like to do that, but I’ve got a place I must go.”

“A place you must go?”

“Yeah. A precious friend asked for help, you know.”

Abel grinned.

His footsteps turned into droplets, breaking apart.

“So I’ll be gone for a while, Hugo. Take care of Hwidor while I’m away.”

“Wait, what about the work…!”

Before Hugo could finish speaking, Abel turned into droplets and scattered into the air.

“Darn it, he really does whatever he wants!”

Left alone, Hugo groaned, tearing at his hair.

Irene was someone who tended to sleep a lot in the morning, but that didn’t mean she had long sleeping hours. She typically slept for a maximum of 8 hours, averaging around 6 hours or so, and rarely took naps.