"It's really… depressing."
Making a small sound, the air loses its heat and freezes.
It's cold. Nothing but cold. As if from the depths of my body, the depths of my heart, heat was stolen away.
But at the same time, Sloth's cold resistance isn't one that can be breached by temperature of this level.
It was a lovely silver world.
Everything was white and frozen solid, and the air that had lost any speck of dust was as serene as a high mountain peak.
Before my eyes, a man had completely frozen.
A black-haired, tall man. Even from over his clothes, I could clearly see his trained body and magic. In his eyes that had been suspended in an open state, what was reflected was resignation and anxiety, and at the same time, strong delight. His mouth had curved into a smile.
I extend my legs from the armchair, and gently stand up. From my feet, I feel a piercing cold like never before, but I grit my teeth, and endure it.
My power of Sloth has declined. Sloth doesn't even permit standing.
It's not that I don't stand up. I can't stand. I can't move. Such is the curse of Sloth.
But to someone like me who doesn't care about power, I don't care about that concept either.
Perhaps because the origin of my power has shifted to Melancholia, my heart was simply heavy.
I gently put my hand on the man's solid expression.
It's a familiar face. He's a man who's attached himself to me since times long passed. I don't remember his name, but his appearance had been firmly etched into my mind.
"… Are you satisfied yet…"
"…"
With a cracking sound, through my finger, the power from the right of my chest, from the second Soul Core that manifested upon me unlocking Melancholia expanded.
Around the man whose figure had been frozen, water circles, and he's encased in a block of ice.
It's a 『Melancholia』 Skill to birth a coffin of ice.
『Freezing Grave』.
I walk past the man who had completely become a pillar of ice.
I guess it's been around a hundred years since my birth, and never have I properly fought or even trained.
Even so, why is it that in this world where strength is everything, I have yet to face a single loss?
I like sleeping.
I like lying on top of the bed without any purpose, and wasting time on nothingness.
Being able to eat without doing anything is wonderful, and I'm relatively pleased that the cleaning gets done without me.
It was something I could never get my hands on back when I was living in Japan.
Even so, I relatively like the thing called hard work. No, more than like, I believed in it.
I'm not going to do it though.
Even so, I can believe in whatever I want, right?
"What a worthless world… this Demon World…"
More so than the Demon World, this entire world is worthless.
This world is harsh and cruel.
Earth had its fair share of cruelties, but this Demon World is much more brutal.
I just didn't pay mind to it.
No, I didn't forgive it.
That Serge, who repeated severe training and sharpened her fangs to take down a Demon Lord was defeated by a man who never did anything.
My broken Sloth Soul Core leisurely restores itself. In proportion to that, my head got heavier.
It's depressing. It's just depressing.
The cold darkness that had piled up in the depths of my heart.
That feeling I occasionally felt even while I was sleeping was probably the reason behind me unlocking Melancholia. In the past, I always felt depressed before stepping out to go to work or to school, so perhaps that could have been the cause, but I have no means of confirming that, and I don't care.
My vision grows darker.
I pass through the door that had been frozen open.
The floor that had been lightly dusted with frost was instantly covered in ice. With a crunching sound below me, I ran down the corridor.
My perception that extended over my entire territory was extremely troublesome, and no matter how much time passes, I'll never get used to it.
Because of my muddy stream of emotions, I slumped with my arm against the wall. Centered around the point I touched, a white power expands. Without a single sound, everything is covered in perpetually constant ice.
In the past, when I first reincarnated into this world, there was one who taught me about Skills.
If you'll let me be honest for a moment, I didn't know what they meant.
Of the powers Demons possessed, there were ones that, of Skills themselves, they stole and copied and nullified and ate and annihilated, and other incomprehensible stuff, it seems. There were unfathomable powers with which in one hit, everything would be over. It was too much.
I thought it was impossible.
Nonsense. I don't want to die yet.
And there shouldn't be anyone out there that wants to. I mean, it's not like the world of hell is certain to be easier than the one we live in.
Those feelings were ones I held in my previous life, at least up to the point I died, and even after having lived a long life as a Demon, they haven't changed a bit.
And so, I didn't lose. And so, I'm still alive. Without thinking anything, I took down those incomprehensible powers.
Separated from the flow of time, I shut myself in with nothing but the Acedia Card to protect my body, and the one that would indiscriminately suspend my functioning and bring me into that dark world, the Melancholia Card.
I've only ever wished one thing from those two trump cards.
… Please, just let me sleep. In silence. In sloth.
"Wha… Leigie…sama? What… is…"
The one who appeared around the corner was the Ira Demon. Lize Bloodcross.
She's probably the greatest anti-thesis to my being. An attribute that scatters shining flames.
One incompatible with me, who likes to hide away in damp and dark places.
"Why… Leigie-sama is… walking…"
"There… are even times when I want to walk."
Even like this, I generally commuted in the swaying train to work every day.
It's stranger to… think I can't stand. In the first place, it's common sense that all Demons have basic physical abilities surpassing humans, so when the human me could walk, there's no way the Demon me would be unable to.
Her body is cloaked in an armor of flame.
She's using her mysterious Wrath Powers to stand against this freezing land.
I turn my gaze to the left. A golden-haired Demon who's trying to stay hidden in the shadows.
Step by step, I quietly move my legs forward.
We're about thirty centimeters apart. In a trance-like state, Lize continued to look at me.
"Wai… Lize-san! It's danger…"
"Eh…?"
She's thrust away, and my hand touches air.
But in her place, my hand brushes the gold-haired Demon's hair.
"Why are… moving… it's a fraud… kusu kus…"
In an instant, that girl's time stopped.
With eyes that were about to burst into tears, and warped lips as if she was forcing herself to laugh.
"… I see."
Even me, based on how I feel… there are even times I think about going out for a stroll.
Is that a fraud? Why a fraud?
Who out there decided that it's no good for Demons of Sloth to move?
Lize hurriedly runs up to the frozen Demon.
"Hiero!? Leigie-sama w-why… to an ally…"
Why? For what reason? That's simple.
"Because I want to sleep peacefully."
"Hah!? Eh? You want… to sleep?"
"… Also, this… I can't actually control it."
"Eh? What an annoying…"
My outstretched hand grazed Lize's shoulder.
Her flames go out in an instant, and like that, she ceases.
With an idiotic expression unthinkable for one who governed Wrath, she doesn't move anymore.
And even if it's something I brought about myself, I feel endless sorrow and emptiness. At the same time, I feel the Melancholy Tree advancing onwards.
Just how fleeting is this world…
Just how fragile is it…
Is that the very reason why the Melancholy Tree within me slowly continues to advance?
An unsightly emotion. For me who lived in nothing but depravity, I should have no right to despair for the world.
In some quiet place, I just want to be alone.
Within this fortress, there are no longer any Demons that can move. But even the icy pillars of their existences are annoying.
Right… I'll climb the tower.
The highest place in this castle.
In the past, someone once carried me to its top. Perhaps about ten years ago?
The uninterrupted sight of the black fortress expanding to a bright red horizon in the distance.
If I were to look at it now, I'm certain I would experience a sentimental feeling.