Hell Inn: Rebirth - I Became a Chef in Hell

Chapter 3 Shirley Morningstar, You Are a Cute Golden Puppy

"An extraordinary cookie-making master? Did she really say that?! My God! I'm about to die laughing on this train!"

Angel, clutching your tail, laughed in an extremely exaggerated manner aboard Shirley's extra-long hellish car.

The Spider Sinner's upturned laughter looked exactly like those sinners in the previous chapter who mocked Shirley's idealistic little tune in your ear, except this time he had you as another target of his ridicule.

"Oh, but that woman might be right! Don't you think so? Sweetheart, she's even flirting with you from afar!"

The nearly two-meter-tall, pinkish-white, hairy spider sinner and you, with your extremely long tail and cumbersome dragon horns, have completely filled Shirley's car, while the car's owner is pitifully huddled in a corner, her lover glaring angrily at Angel beside you.

And you watch as Angel, embracing your long tail with obvious affection.

Although you haven't known this guy in front of you for very long because he works in a special industry and offends people, he has always been particularly fond of your... tail for some reason.

And now Angel is like a 17th-century European noblewoman who loves to wear a fur coat.

The dragon's tail and soft, gray-black mane made Angel Durst's small face look even whiter and softer.

"Because [name omitted] didn't cause any trouble, the spotlight of life doesn't shine on her! What a lucky girl..."

Perhaps because Vicky's gaze was too sharp, Angel, feeling uncomfortable under her stare, rolled her eyes, muttered something, and tugged at the tip of your tail.

Seeing him like that, you, who had been sitting there like a statue, subtly twitched at the corner of your eye.

Before you joined Happy Hotel, Angel's favorite in-car activity, besides driving, was playing with the automatic windows.

After you joined, his favorite activity in the car became playing with your tail.

"If you like, I can cut it off for you."

Seeing that he hadn't gotten tired of playing with you after all this time, you suddenly spoke up from your seat.

Your tail can be cut off like a gecko's for escape, and it will grow back after a while.

However, you haven't encountered this situation yet.

"...This is just as boring as some of my strangely fetishistic customers asking if they can use dead bodies."

Angel, unaware of what you meant, rejected your idea without hesitation.

"I'm more curious about the detachable, portable giant thing you mentioned than that."

you:"……"

Hearing the other person suddenly bring up this topic, you, who were staring at them, immediately tensed up.

"Listen carefully, I'm very expensive, but I can make an exception and give you this chance..."

Angel, whose voice suddenly and seamlessly switched from normal to alluring and passionate, didn't shy away from it. He climbed onto your shoulder as if no one else was around, and gently pressed his pink-gloved right hand against your chin.

You don't think it's a misperception that the other person deliberately used the soft hair on their chest to press against you.

You can smell the gunpowder emanating from Angel, who is as delicate as a boneless person, making him seem as if he has just been pulled out of the battlefield.

And, even though you know the other person has probably done this a thousand times before, their movements are so practiced that you don't know what to say.

Although the other party seems very "tempting" now, you can probably understand why some sinners can be so infatuated with Angel that they would give their lives for him...

But right now, you just stare at Angel's heterochromatic eyes, unmoved.

Because you know Angel is gay, although women are fine with him too, but he clearly prefers men.

You used to think that Angel was joking when he treated you like that, and that he wasn't interested in you.

...But ever since he found out you have a detachable, portable giant penis, he seems to really want to try it with you.

—Yes, after you go to hell, you will not just be a simple woman.

You are a peculiar sinner with a female body, but no reproductive organs—well, or rather, you can have whatever reproductive organs you want entirely on your own.

Good heavens, even a pegging guy would be shocked to discover he had such a terrifying weapon.

……

That's why you said you wouldn't feel at ease unless you were punished in some way. You can't have all the good things, can you?

"Hold!"

Just as Angel was about to kiss your cheek, Vicky threw a swift, lightning-fast throwing knife at you.

The knife was incredibly precise; it grazed Angel's cheek, shaved off a strand of white hair, and then plunged straight into the remote window button; it didn't hurt you at all.

"What the hell? What's wrong?! What are you doing! I was just joking!"

Seeing this, Angel, who was completely used to it, was clearly still frightened.

He first raised both hands as if surrendering, but his other two hands were still holding onto your tail, and the expression on his face could only be described as "I'll do it again next time".

"...A joke? A joke!?"

Completely enraged, Vicky angrily ripped two clumps of hair from her head, making your scalp tingle just watching.

"Are you just going to let him harass you like this?!"

When Vicky stared at you with her single eye wide open, you felt that the expression on her face was so sharp it was like a knife.

"..."

"Uh... I want to make it clear that I will absolutely not participate in anything today other than comforting Shirley..."

Realizing that silence would only escalate the conflict, you, whose expression had remained unchanged, immediately declared that you would not join the battle.

"Haha! Admit it! This hot woman is irresistible to everyone! Even the aloof Michelin-starred chef from the East is no exception!"

Completely disregarding what you said, Angel, the limited-time entertainer who was deliberately showing off to anger Vicky, spoke in a flippant tone.

He even touched your chin with his hand, and then deliberately gathered his hairy tuft that could easily be mistaken for a chest.

"Right? My coolest, most aloof little chef?"

The Spider Sinner winked at you.

"...Let's go with the aloof Michelin chef."

Fearing he might say something outrageous that wouldn't pass censorship, you pursed your lips and, with a twitching expression, politely declined Angel's second form of address.

"That's great! I knew you'd like it!"

Upon hearing your response, Angel immediately made a smug victory gesture near his mouth.

You know Angel hasn't given up on that idea that's a bit scary for a pure-hearted warrior like you, so you quietly moved to the side.

Although dating a gay man is still dating, you feel that this twisted relationship is as abstract as a gay man finding a lesbian, and it won't end well.

"...Fuck! Angel! Don't try to gloss over the crimes you committed today with *harassment*!"

Seeing that someone was completely oblivious and was practically using F and S words as punctuation marks, Vicky's eyes turned bloodshot.

You always feel like she's about to rush over and beat up Angel.

"Hey! Wait a minute... but we also achieved good results, didn't we?"

Seeing that things were starting to get out of control, Shirley, who had been listless since the beginning, quickly stopped her hot-tempered lover and then turned to you with a pleading look, trying to muster her spirits.

"Right? ■■■?"

The adorable little princess once again casts her bright, puppy-like gaze at you, like a puppy waiting for a treat.

You opened your mouth, but couldn't say anything else because you were interrupted by another conspicuous person.

"You mean the joke the host made about the amazing cookies after all that happened? ■■■ I'm telling you, the 'Hell's Little Princess delivering cookies' joke is really going to be famous!"

Seeing that Xia Li brought up the 666 news channel again, Angel immediately interrupted you excitedly as if he had thought of something, and then deftly freed one hand to open his phone and hold it in front of you.

Judging from his expression, he's most likely trying to show you a meme about Shirley delivering cookies.

"Oh... if some idiot food critic tries to collaborate with you to ride your coattails, this show will be even more disastrous..."

The Spider Sinner looked gloating.

After the 666 News Channel incident, a world where only Angel was unharmed was achieved, and the other side even wanted to rub salt into the wounds of you few.

"Alright, Angel."

Seeing that Shirley's smile was fading faster and faster, you, who never expected that Shirley could cause trouble by giving away cookies, stopped the seemingly endless, hellish joke in front of you.

You've lost count of how many times you've sighed today. If this continues, at least your mindset will age very quickly.

You stopped Angel because you didn't want to upset Shirley even more, and also because you were worried that Vicky, who already seemed furious, might strangle Angel to death in the car.

Right now you really want to escape from the scene.

"...Tell Vicky what happened before I found you. I forgot to buy one of the ingredients for dinner. You two can chat in the car."

After you said that, everyone in the car turned their attention to you.

Perhaps because Vicky's temper is slightly more restrained in front of you, Angel can joke around with particular gusto whenever you're around.

In addition, he also particularly likes to share some outrageous memes with you... as well as heavy-handed pornographic videos made by his fans that will shock you for a whole year.

He seems to particularly enjoy leaning on your shoulder and watching you stare in disbelief, something you used to refuse because you found abstract.

You're easily swayed, and Angel, who's a master at manipulating people, easily defeated you with a single sentence: "No one has ever wanted to watch these boring little videos with me before."

Not to mention what happened next was even more outrageous—a terrifying fan wrote him a bizarre letter and even dared to go to his workplace and threaten him with a knife.

At first, you were wondering if he could handle it himself, but after seeing him act like he didn't care, you were worried about his mental state and stopped refusing Angel's "video time".

Later, Shirley euphemistically called your two snuggling on the sofa watching short videos "a beautiful and cozy time for sinners before they go to heaven."

After hearing this, Angel was so upset that he didn't come to see you for two whole days, which is a good thing.

"...What? You can't just get out of the car and swagger away like that!...No, run away! We're a team!"

Upon seeing you get off the bus, Angel, who was quite clever in this regard, immediately poked his head out and complained to you with dissatisfaction.

"When did she join your team? At least she didn't cause a bombing with other criminals while important scenes were being shown on the big screen!"

And another thing! If you fucking make another lewd joke, I fucking will kill you!

Vicky glared angrily at Angel, her expression thick with tension.

"Oh~ how did you know I was going to say something 'tasty' during this important part? And are you trying to make me die twice? Wow—you're really giving me more and more jokes today~"

Angel, with his head still sticking out, habitually blurted out this offhand remark.

"..."

"Alright, you nagging little bitch."

You silently pressed your hand against Angel's furry head and muttered something under your breath before pushing the two-meter-tall sinner back into the car in one go.

Even though you know they'll probably have another pointless argument on their way back, you don't want to get entangled with those sharp-tongued sinners from hell when you get off the bus.

Just before the door closed, you even heard Angel say something like, "Damn, that was pretty spicy." It startled you so much you almost tucked your tail between your legs.

In short, if Angel himself is unhappy, then he will definitely find a way to make everyone else unhappy.

"Hey, [Name], will you be going back to the hotel early?"

Before you left, Shirley leaned against the window and stared at you with those eyes that seemed too pure for the hellish world.

Inside the car, Vicky and Angel were arguing about "the reputation of movie stars" and "the reputation of hotels."

Faced with Xia Li's somewhat ambiguous words, you paused for a moment before stepping forward and squatting down by the roadside, gazing into Xia Li's eyes.

When you try to have a fair discussion with someone, you tend to look them in the eye.

However, you also know that this can be considered a form of oppression in some ways.

The eyes are the windows to emotions, and you are very good at judging a person's emotions by looking into their eyes.

The same applies to Shirley right now.

After you did that, Shirley seemed to be avoiding something and looked away.

"Uh...it's nothing really! Just come back soon! We're all waiting for you!"

Perhaps knowing that her behavior would cause concern, Shirley, whose voice clearly fell silent, turned her head and tried to meet your gaze. You could see the reluctance in her eyes.

But since she didn't continue her conversation with you or complain to you, you didn't want to pressure her.

But Xia Li lay there pitifully and aggrievedly, just like a little dog that had been scolded.

You don't know if she's expecting you to say something, but you feel it would be cruel to just leave like that—or perhaps the cunning girl knows she can always get encouragement from you.

I really lost to her.

"I know, I'll go back soon."

You winked at her with a hint of helplessness, then gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'll say it again, my dear little princess of hell."

"Things will get better, believe me... No matter what happens, a hundred times or a thousand times, I will help you."

After you said that, Shirley was stunned for a moment.

You saw a fleeting glint in her eyes; the blonde princess of hell's eyes only moistened for a moment before returning to normal.

Seeing Shirley's feigned strength makes you want to hug her, but you decide to leave that to her lover.

But no matter how many times you see her, you'll always think she has a very cute and pretty face. Every time you see her two round, adorable blushes, you just want to reach out and rub them...

In fact, her face does feel just as good as you imagine, like the snow daifuku you ate when you were alive.

"Thank you, ■■■."

The female demon, who probably had no idea what you were thinking while you were stranded, thanked you gratefully and solemnly. She seemed to be in a better mood than before.

Realizing that your comforting words had worked, you slowly straightened up from the ground.

Hearing the car start, you glanced at Shirley, who finally smiled, and shrugged.

A mysterious sinner from the East stood quietly in front of the car.

The pale-faced female sinner was tall, with her long, black hair that dragged on the ground, lifted by her amber-like antlers and long tail; despite being at a superior position, her gaze was as gentle as when she first met him.

Just as you said, Shirley also feels that someone with such vision and personality doesn't seem like a sinner destined for hell.

Growing up surrounded by love and raised by her parents, Shirley firmly believes in many things, including the idea that you will definitely get into heaven.

She sometimes thinks that perhaps your unique personal charm lies in never being panicked and being good at having a backup plan.

She and Vicky had already endured too much coldness from the outside world. Having a mature and silent companion who always stood behind them to support and help them, and even being able to eat her cooking at night, was a wonderful life.

but……

Shirley gazed in the direction you disappeared, a hint of worry still in her eyes.

Perhaps Heaven truly has a very strict scale for judging the good and evil of humankind, to the point that someone like you doesn't deserve to go to Heaven.

Or perhaps you made a big mistake that you've simply forgotten.

……

...Or perhaps, what specific reason or person led you to hell...?