The Second Labor of Heavenly Approval

This may seem abrupt, but let me ask: when was the last time you felt crushing disappointment?

Notice, Demon Lord, I don’t ask if you’ve ever been disappointed. Everyone has.

The higher one climbs, the longer the fall. Anyone can celebrate when the dice land in their favor. Anyone can have hope when things go their way. True growth isn’t revealed in victory, it’s revealed when your carefully laid plan collapses, and you’re left to decide if you’ll rebuild or drown in the rubble.

I had little to be proud of in my previous life. But here, I have everything. I cannot lose it. Just as you were reborn from your throne to amend the mistakes that doomed you once, I have been bound to this Dungeon Core, condemned to stake everything on our Spa.

With my brilliant mind and with enough time, I can create fortunes. I can conjure inventions to pay off debts and fuel expansion. But reputation isn’t Gold. Respect and love can’t be bought. They are fought for, maintained, and defended. That’s why our First Labor cut so deep. That’s why winning you over, Demon-kin ruler, and the Human king is an uphill battle steeped in mistrust. That’s why resorting to your sexy explosive assistance hurt more than our accounts did.

I can manifest Gold from ideas. I can’t manifest the look on a guest’s face when trust breaks.

Intimidating my guests, other than with extreme bills, isn’t something I stand for!!

“Master, calm down!” Rin hissed, slapping down holy-circle after holy-circle glowing under our feet.

“Stop yelling at the Demon Lord!” Sharlotte shrieked, fainting onto the carpet for moral support.

But I glared up at the gorgeous throne. “I may be a gem now, but my Human spirit remains as my core. You’ll find that it’s hardly brittle. Not only did you disrespect me, the King of the Spa, but you threatened our clients with that explosive butler Blackwell! My rage is unbearable!”

“How did you plan to show this rage?” the Demon Lord rumbled.

“Insanity and effort! Now let’s hear our Second Labor! If I find your terms insufficient, I’ll–”

“–self-destruct the lobby?” Rin cut in.

“–you’re gonna get us killed!” Sharlotte cried.

“–rethink my approach to getting my body back!” I finished proudly.

“And yet you kneel here instead of running away. Despite your failures?”

“Don’t you know nothing is tougher than the Human spirit, Demon Lord?”

A rumble shook the throne room. It wasn’t anger, but rather, laughter. “I must say, despite myself, I have come to believe that. It’s prolonged this war. This war will likely last forever. As long as there is animosity or reason to fight, it will last. So, we must introduce points of peace. Places where enemies may see eye-to-eye. Because my Demon spirit greatly respects your Human spirit, Dungeon Core.” His gaze burned hotter. “No, Kazuki. I respect your spirit. Do not make me regret it. Your Second Labor awaits.”

Thunder cracked overhead, light bursting into cathedral-like rays. His decree rang out: “If you can get the Heavens to bathe with Demon-kin, then getting King Gremy to visit your Spa will be a walk in the park.”

“Wait, WHAT?!”

The Demon Lord’s grin widened, all teeth. “This is personal. The Angels once cast me out of Heaven. If you can call them down to earth and they wish to experience your Spa, then perhaps I want it too.”

“If the people who cast you out want something, then you want it too? Most likely? That's not personal, it's horribly selfish! So basically, we need to run a ‘Get Naked with Demon-kin’ PR campaign in Heaven?!”

“That’s literally the worst way you could have phrased it.”

Sharlotte sat up, trembling. “But Kazuki… Heaven doesn’t allow interspecies mingling. The Church even preaches against it! They call segregation the key to peace!”

“Segregation?!” I flared. “In Heaven, too? That’s medieval nonsense! Next, they’ll say Angels shouldn’t drink alcohol because it ‘offends purity.’”

“Uh,” Rin coughed, flipping open Sharlotte’s holy manual. “Actually, it says the opposite on page twelve. And I know that the Church clergy drinks alcohol religiously.”

“SEE?!” I wailed. “The Church is already full of funky drunkards! This is exactly why Heaven needs a bathhouse! To scrub the stupid out!”

The Demon Lord chuckled. “Then prove it, Dungeon Core. Get all the Heavens to dip their halos in your waters. Fail, and perhaps you prove them right, all of us right, that segregation is justified.” He produced a chest, and within, a holy relic he couldn’t touch, a golden-blue Seraph feather that would allow anyone touching it to ascend to Heaven for as long as it didn’t burn up.

Our Second Labor began.

“I don’t wanna go to the sky!!”

“Why does each mention of Heaven and the Church have you stiffen up? I know you’re a slacker, but did you defect or something?”

“You don’t know what you’re getting us into!”

“I do, my cost analysis compass is pointing us straight to the final gamble needed for victory!! Let’s go! Back to the Spa and to the skies!”