I hate my life. No, seriously, I hate my life.

I grunted as I was thrown into the hard stone floor of the cell. The other people within the cell let out noises and whimpers of fear. My hands were unbound but I didn’t want to try my luck when at least thirty of those demons were out there. “Yeah, thanks for the warm welcome.” I snapped at the one who shoved me into the cell. “I’ll be sure to take off my shoes and put my casserole in the store room.” While I wasn’t intending to be funny it hurt my pride that no one laughed. 

“Young man, are you alright?”

One of the older individuals approached me. He lacked any defining feature and had a calm aura around him. Wait… a human?! As far as I had seen back then, there were no humans in hell. There were just dangerous creatures and deathtraps wherever I went. Looking closer, I could tell that all the men, women, and children in this cell were human. “How… How did other humans end up here?! I- How?!” From what I had gathered from my time here, this wasn’t my mind. I had assumed that it was a subspace of hell where the humans who died were not allowed or sent. I only knew so much about hell due to the books my father left in his study before he disappeared. I could only come up with two conclusions. 

Conclusion number one, Edith’s spell had a malfunction and with the fact that she’s disrupting the soul, I was sent here to hell as souls are the dominion of the Divine and Damned. 

It was likely that somewhere in the process, she was unaware of a malfunction that would immediately damn the soul. I doubt she would know this since I was the first test subject. That was my first conclusion, though.

Conclusion number two… I don’t like to even consider how messed up in the head Edith could be if she is using this method. I pushed those thoughts away for the time being. Turning back towards the elderly man, I gave him the best reassuring smile I could muster. “This is nothing! I’m an adventurer after all.” My words meant to comfort him seemed to only confuse him. I was prepared to broach the topic more when seeing his confusion but brushed it off to ask the more important questions. “Hey old man, where are we anyway?”

While perturbed at being called old, the kind man seemed used to it. “My name is Martin Klein, young man.” He introduced himself. “As for where our location is. We are in the Sloth Circle of Hell. Here is where those, regardless of their age or gender, who have fallen to the sin of Sloth go.” 

Huh? I silently stared at Martin with a perturbed face. “Huh?” It seems that some of the children found my face funny, considering a few of them began to giggle uncontrollably. Wait, wait, wait! Internally my brain was running in circles. This didn’t make sense to me, it had no logic to it. Even children?! I sat there for a few seconds, processing this information. There was one thing that bothered me the most, though. How have I fallen to the sin of Sloth? 

Seeing that I was having a difficult time processing this, Martin patted my shoulder. It was a gentle pat that felt similar to what a grandfather would give to a grandson to comfort him in a time of dire need. “I’ll give you time to process this. It must be a lot to take in.” 

Absentmindedly nodding, I moved to a corner in the back of the cell while everyone else tried occupying themselves with anything. The children would play tag or draw using broken stone as chalk and the adults simply conversed or sat in silence. Sloth… Sloth… The word echoed in my head as I attempted to recall even one time where I had neglected to do tasks or just procrastinated overall. Damnit! Sloth is such a broad sin that it could have been anything! 

Giving up for now, I closed my eyes to take a nap. When I woke up, it seemed like only a couple of hours had passed. I could also note that some groups were missing. Observing the remaining groups that were spread throughout the area, I counted out of boredom.

While none of them seemed to have any issues, a young girl sitting by her lonesome in the other corner of the cell caught my eye. I could only estimate her to be around seven or eight. Her brown hair, which only went to her shoulders, was tied into a ponytail. Sitting against the wall, she seemed to be avoiding any interaction with how she had her knees to her chest and ignored any approaching cell mates. 

Did she get sent here without her parents…? For thirty minutes, I sat waiting to see either an adult or child approach her to sit with her.When no one did, I approached Martin who was conversing with an elderly woman, somewhere around his age. “Mr. Martin, I was wondering… who is that girl alone in the corner?” His expression fell, making me even more concerned. 

Leaning into my personal space, he began to speak in a lower tone. “That’s Isra. She arrived here with her mother but…” He trailed off. I still needed more answers, so I gave him a questioning look. “Her mother is alive but the treatment she’s receiving isn’t something a child should see.” The pieces instantly clicked in my mind.

These bastards… I could feel my blood boil. I turned away from the elderly man so that he wouldn't see my murderous expression. I don’t know when or where. I don’t care what I have to do. I’m killing every demon in this circle of hell. No matter what. A hand grabbing my shoulder brought me out of my homicidal bordering on genocidal thoughts. Turning to face Martin, I could see his grim expression grow even more sad.

“I think it would be best to just leave her be.” My face must have gotten worse because Martin took a step back. “I-I’m just saying… those who have gotten involved with that girl, they all have one common outcome. Anyone who gets close to her dies.” Abruptly I began to walk forward, Martin took a step back in fear before getting confused as I walked past him. 

Sorry old man, but you’re wrong. I weaved through the chaotic groups formed in the front of the room. I don’t plan on dying. Not yet at least. The center of the room was much calmer, allowing me to get through quicker. So I’m going to make sure no child goes through what I have… Standing before Isra, I tried to give my most comforting smile. “Hey there! Why are you here all by yourself?” She seemed to ignore me at first, hoping I would go away. When she did not hear any footsteps, she turned her gaze upward to stare into my eyes. My blue eyes met her brown eyes. Clarity came to me way too late. Why am I doing this? I got emotional all of the sudden… Why do I care about some random kid? We both sat there, just staring at each other awkwardly, not a single word spoken by the other.

"Ah. Okay then. Have a nice day" Turning away from her direction, I went back into my corner. I couldn't stop myself from cringing internally at what just happened. What the hell?! Why am I trying to be a hero all of the sudden? In the peripheral of my eye, I could see Martin’s shoulder sag as he sighed in relief. I had been acting strangely ever since I was brought here. I had almost involved myself in someone else's business when I had issues of my own to deal with. What was I thinking?! I even had such a cringe internal monologue! Closing my eyes again, I let the realm of sleep take me.