Also, the clothes that they were wearing was very unique, it was embellished with luxurious violet linings and gave off an ancient cultural impression. They also carried a golden fan in their hand.
"If it isn't lord Belial, I couldn't sense you coming at all" Oswell slightly bowed his head and greeted the other party.
That's right, the androgynous demon in front of them was none other than the Demon Archduke from the Walpurgis who had been recently chosen by the Fragment of Envy thus becoming one of the Demon Lords.
Belial lightly nodded his head and glanced towards Simon before quickly losing interest. From his point of view, there was nothing extraordinary about this demon. He was only here to meet Oswell.
"To what do I owe the pleasure for the Demon Lord of Envy to greet me personally?" Oswell asked.
Simon who got to understand this glutton from their short interaction, knew that this was a front that Oswell puts in front of the other demons who he didn't want to get closer to.
"I just wanted to ask if you will be attending the Hexennacht after this?" Belial posed a question with a smile on his face.
"Of course, I will be attending. Why is lord Belial asking me this?" Oswell locked his brows in confusion.
The smile on Belial's face deepened as he answered: "Hehe, I guess you didn't know, but this year the host of the Hexennacht is me. As such, it will be in my domain, the Asphodel Meadows. Since you said you are going to attend, I will meet you then".
After saying all that he needed to, the Demon Lord of Envy casually walked away. He was planning to meet with the other high ranking demons.
"Are you alright?" Oswell asked looking towards Simon. One could imagine the kind of pressure someone who was once a demon archduke naturally exuded. The bloodline suppression of having such a high ranking demon appear so close to you was immense.
Simon nodded his head before shifting his eyes between the departing back of the demon lord and Oswell. Even the demon lord of Envy was interested in this guy, there is no way this glutton wasn't special.
"Haha, you don't have to look at me like that. The demon lord was only interested in me because of my vast wealth and my dungeon" Oswell said awkwardly.
"Your vast wealth? What does that mean?" the more Simon interacted with this demon the more he felt how mysterious the latter was.
"Hmm it might sound like I'm bragging when I say this myself but I'm extremely rich. My dungeon is one of the most famous ones in the Demon Continent and a large number of adventurers dive there".
"The DP that it generates me is greater than most of the Demon Archduke's dungeon. This is the reason why the demon lord of envy spoke to me personally. He must be wanting to get me in his faction"
Oswell explained. He then shook his head and muttered in annoyance 'These high ranking demon and their schemes'.
So that was the reason, Simon was a little surprised. He did not think that the dungeon of this glutton would be so famous as to even outdo the dungeon of the Demon Archdukes. No wonder the Demon Lord of Envy tried to get him on his side.
That said… "I didn't know your dungeon was this famous" Simon commented. His dungeon Laplace was also growing steadily. However, it still had a long way to go when compared to the high ranking dungeons.
"This… it's all thanks the hard work of my subordinates" Oswell seemed a little proud when mentioning his subordinates.
"Oh that's right, you will be coming to the Hexennacht right? There is no way a special demon like you doesn't have his own dungeon right?".
"About that, what is a Hexennacht?" Simon inquired.
Oswell blinked his eyes a couple of times before realising something "Ah my bad, let me explain what Hexennacht is. The Hexennacht is an event where demon nobbles who have created their own dungeon, gather to discuss about the various important issues of the demon world, settle disputes and allocate territories".
"It is usually held every ten years and usually goes on for a couple of days to a week. It was supposed to be held a little earlier; however, due to the Auction of the Damned it was postponed. Since you have your own dungeon, you must attend it too".
Simon nodded his head at Oswell's explanation. He had no idea that there was an event like that for the Demon Nobles.
Anyways… "Hexennacht huh… Why didn't I get any invitation for it?" Simon questioned. During the Walpurgis, he got an invitation telling him about the gate and destination of the event.
However, this time there was no such invitation given. Heck, if not for Oswell or the Demon Lord of Envy bringing this subject up, he wouldn't even know about it.
"About that… Hexennacht is not like the Walpurgis where it is mandatory for every demon noble to attend. As I told you earlier only those demons who have created their own dungeon attend it. Perhaps the reason why you didn't get any invitation is because your dungeon is relatively new and not that well known yet" Oswell answered.
His guess was spot on, it hadn't been more than three years since Simon created his dungeon. Usually, it takes a long time for a dungeon to evolve and become well known. The dungeon master too attends several events and interacts with different demon nobles during this time to spread the name of their dungeon.
However, Simon's dungeon had grown at an unprecedented rate and the Walpurgis was the only event that had taken place during this period of time. As such, the society of the demon nobles was still mostly unaware of the dungeon Laplace or about him for the large part.
If he wanted his dungeon to be recognised, Simon had to attend this Hexennacht.
"When is this Hexennacht event going to take place?"…
"It's going to be held after this auction. The host of the event this time is the demon lord of envy, as such it will be held in his domain, the Asphodel Meadows which is located in the southern region of the demon continent".
"All the demons will head over there as soon as the auction ends. If you are planning to attend the Hexennacht why don't we head over there together?" Oswell offered.
Simon did not answer immediately, he silently deliberated his options. His gut feeling was telling him that he shouldn't miss this event or else he would surely come to regret it later. It was a peculiar feeling given the fact that he had never attended the Hexennacht before.
In any case, let's say that he went with his gut feeling and attended the event. However, was he prepared adequately for it? Putting aside the Auction of the Damned, the Hexennacht was going to be held in the domain of another Demon Lord. It would be far more dangerous.
Additionally, he had told Irene and the others, he would come back after the auction ends. They didn't know anything about the Hexennacht. As such, they would worry if he didn't come back from that gate.
What should he do? From what he learned from Oswell, it seemed to be an important event, not attending it was not an option either.
While Simon was lost in his thoughts, a circular formation appeared around him and his body started glowing.
"Oh? It looks like the Auction is about to start" Oswell commented.
He wasn't the only one whose body started glowing, similar phenomenon started appearing around all the demons who were here. This was the indication that the auction was about to start.
Well, there was no point in brooding over the Hexennacht now, he could just decide later on, right now he focused his attention on the event that was right in front of him.
The auction of the damned was about to start—with these thoughts in his mind, Simon's body teleported away from the hall.
The next time he appeared, he was already inside a large chamber. All around him, there were numerous demon nobles in fancy clothing in attendance. Some were quiet, some were chatting with the other fellow demons and some maintained their distance.
"Master!!"
While Simon was looking around and observing the mass, a jubilant voice that seemed to be of a child, rang out and two figures quickly cut through the crowd and ran towards him. Who could these adorable figures be other than Theodore and Maybell?
"Master, where were you? We searched for you everywhere. Didn't master say that we aren't allowed to stray too far away from you? And yet you are the one who went and disappeared?"…
"Master we were worried"
The twins complained.
Hearing them, Simon flashed a helpless smile. He didn't separate from them on his own will rather it was the mechanisation of Grimvul who brought him to a different place. Thanks to that, he was able to observe all the items that are going to appear on the auction giving him an edge over the other demons.
Also, he was able to learn about the Hexennacht from Oswell.
"Haha, I'm sorry. Did I make you wait too long?" Simon apologised patting their heads.
"Hehe… it doesn't matter as long as master is here. But there is one thing…" Theodore's eyes suddenly became serious, there was a look of annoyance in his eyes.
"What happened?" It was only now that Simon noticed that Theodore was clutching the hands of his sister as if running away from something.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel